Lump update - colonoscopy next week

[amu]

Hi to anyone who reads this,

I looked at my previous threads and I opened about 8-9 of them already in the subject of having a large lump in the lower right side of my abdomen, which none of the doctors seem to be able to see/feel and diagnose. I also suffer from breathlessness and my father died of colon cancer at a fairly young age.

Just wanted to say that almost a year and a half after first noticing the lump, I am finally having a colonoscopy next Friday.
I am very scared but also a bit relieved that I will finally be properly checked. I look at my stomach and I just can't imagine it not being a tumour, or at least a benign one, as it is so big. It has the tendency to disappear into deep into my abdomen, when it can no longer be felt. But as I move around it's always back.

I am sooo unsure because I am being tested through private care in my home country, and if they do something I need to come back to the UK where I live and work, and as such I need to be treated here, but how can turn up at the GP saying well I have this lump and he refused to refer me, now I have been diagnosed in a foreign country, so can he please get me to an oncologist??!! I am so scared of this.

Also, I wanna make sure that I am properly cleaned out for the scope, but I have been reading contradicting info on what to eat. The procedure is on Friday morning, and I have to take the prep on Thursday morning and then on Thursday afternoon.
So on Thursday shall I only drink clear liquids and not eat anything else? What should I eat Wednesday, I guess low fibre food - including what??

Amu

(sorry that I have been annoying you all with this for the past year )

[Trixie]

Hi to anyone who reads this,

I looked at my previous threads and I opened about 8-9 of them already in the subject of having a large lump in the lower right side of my abdomen, which none of the doctors seem to be able to see/feel and diagnose. I also suffer from breathlessness and my father died of colon cancer at a fairly young age.

Just wanted to say that almost a year and a half after first noticing the lump, I am finally having a colonoscopy next Friday.
I am very scared but also a bit relieved that I will finally be properly checked. I look at my stomach and I just can't imagine it not being a tumour, or at least a benign one, as it is so big. It has the tendency to disappear into deep into my abdomen, when it can no longer be felt. But as I move around it's always back.

I am sooo unsure because I am being tested through private care in my home country, and if they do something I need to come back to the UK where I live and work, and as such I need to be treated here, but how can turn up at the GP saying well I have this lump and he refused to refer me, now I have been diagnosed in a foreign country, so can he please get me to an oncologist??!! I am so scared of this.

Also, I wanna make sure that I am properly cleaned out for the scope, but I have been reading contradicting info on what to eat. The procedure is on Friday morning, and I have to take the prep on Thursday morning and then on Thursday afternoon.
So on Thursday shall I only drink clear liquids and not eat anything else? What should I eat Wednesday, I guess low fibre food - including what??

Amu

(sorry that I have been annoying you all with this for the past year )

They should give you info on what to do. You could have milky foods on the Wed and NOTHING to eat of a Thursday. If I remember rightly you can have clear fluids. They should tell you what to do anyway.

I am sure it will be OK, if the lump is as big as you say and you have had it for 18 months you would be very ill if it was cancer.

[amu]

Thanks Trix, my Mum will pick up the prep for me this Friday and they will give her full instructions (I am still in the UK and will just go home next Wednesday to prepare for the scope).
So milk is probably on the table, maybe I'll have yoghurts and similar.
And thanks for the heads up, it's always refreshing to read your clear-headed posts

[amu]

I feel so sh*t. I am more and more just so sure that this is bowel cancer. The lump feels large, firm, moveable (together with my bowel I guess), my intestines gurgle a lot in that exact area, it matches with everything I read. And I have learnt a lot about bowel cancer lately, I could easily write a book on the subject. (Not from dr google.)

I think about death a lot, and no one around me knows what is going on inside of me, they think I am fine. Except my fiance, who is very fed up with the subject, and even when I am shaking with fear he leaves the room or ignores the whole thing completely.

[Trixie]

I feel so sh*t. I am more and more just so sure that this is bowel cancer. The lump feels large, firm, moveable (together with my bowel I guess), my intestines gurgle a lot in that exact area, it matches with everything I read. And I have learnt a lot about bowel cancer lately, I could easily write a book on the subject. (Not from dr google.)

I think about death a lot, and no one around me knows what is going on inside of me, they think I am fine. Except my fiance, who is very fed up with the subject, and even when I am shaking with fear he leaves the room or ignores the whole thing completely.

Once you get this colonoscopy out of the way you will feel a lot better. I had one a couple of years ago (I suffer from diverticular disease and IBS).

I refused sedation and pain killers as I wanted to be awake to watch the procedure on the monitor ().

As they were only checking out why I was getting so many infections in my bowel I wasn't thinking about cancer but they still told me at the end that there was 'nothing to worry about'

I don't suffer from HA so I was OK but drinking the preparation before hand was awful. I did flavour the drinks with squash though.

Have you lost weight over the 18months or had rectal bleeding?

[amu]

No, neither. Rectal bleeding is only associated with left-sided tumours though. Weight loss is associated with both I think, but I didn't lose any weight except when I was dieting - I think my weight is quite normal, about 9 stone 5.

[amu]

Arrrh somebody help! I hate this waiting around alone.
Eight more days and I will know...!

[pollyanna]

Hi Amu

I know the waiting is very hard, the waiting is the hardest thing for me no matter what it is i am waiting for, i just want it all now, and then i would know where i am. but unfortunately this is not how life works, and we must wait, and there is nothing we can do about it. im waiting for results to come through too and i have been waiting almost 4 weeks now, its hard trying to let time pass.
As hard as it is, try and concentrate on that is only 8 more days, it could be a whole lot longer, i know that really isnt much help, but its all you have got to work with, just wanted to say hi and let you know i am thinking about you.

P x

[RosieXXX]

Hello amu,

It seems you have been waiting a long time for this procedure, and I know how worried you have been; as the time draws closer I can imagine how the tension must be building up. Hang on to the thought you are getting closer to finally having the answer you so desperately need to put your mind at rest. From all you have said in your previous posts, I am absolutely certain you will be given the all clear. I know the waiting is awful, and I just wish the time would go quickly for you. Thinking about you and wishing you all the very best xx

[amu]

Pollyanna: 4 weeks?! Nightmare. It must be good news after such a long time...
I had to wait over a month for stool enzyme test results in January. I was sitting at the end of my seat every day...