Husband being sent for scan, potentially serious

[silver_shoes]

Hi,

I would really appreciate some words of reassurance, I am not a regular poster on here so I know I don't exactly contribute a lot to the forum these days (I was a regular poster around 10/11 years ago under a different name). But I am going through absolute mental hell tonight :huh:

Bit of a back story: I have bad health anxiety simply because I have been through a horrid time with my health in the past, and have issues with trusting doctors due to my own experiences. That said, I'm not a hypochondriac- I am the way I am because I have had doctors not listening to me in the past when it has transpired that I have had actual health problems.

Normally, it is my wonderful husband who keeps me sane lol, I have a tendency to think on the negative side when it comes to my health or the health of my nearest and dearest.

However this time, it is my husband who I am worried about. He is the kindest, sweetest person I know and I can not bear the thought of anything happening to him (BTW he is 33, I'm 34.).

He has been suffering with pain in his left leg, just above the knee, for around the past week or so. We had a new puppy a few months ago and have both been bending down a lot, to do stuff to him (eg picking him up, or kneeling down to clean out his crate etc) so my husband has assumed it's related to that.. Also, the fact that most days he walks to work and back which is roughly a two mile round-trip - though he has been doing that for years now in all honesty.

Last night my hubby decided that he wanted to see the GP about this pain, as it wasn't helped with Ibuprofen. This REALLY surprised me as he rarely sees the doctor for anything, it's always him being there to support me, and he is a typical man who wouldn;t nromally see the doctor without some nagging from me. So I was surprised at this. He went to the doctors this afternoon.

I was trying to be positive, and fully expected him to come home with a prescription for some painkillers and a diagnosis of muscle strain. However I was really shocked when he came home from seeing the GP and said that he is is being sent for an ultrasound scan, under the two-week wait (potential cancer) system. Apparently the GP is "almost certain" that it is just a muscle strain, caused by all the bending down he's been doing recently... however she wants to be certain it is not the small percentage chance of being something more serious. Her words were, "we want to dot the I's and cross the T's". She said that there is a question around whether there is a lump in the muscle of the calf, above the knee. When you feel it, it is definitely more inflamed, though in my opinion it is not a definite lump as such.

Of course, I am now absolutely terrified, and have been googling bone cancer/sarcoma/soft tissue cancer. I am so anxious that I nearly passed out in the kitchen earlier this evening.

A little bit of comfort is that I actually heard the GP speaking to my husband on the phone - about an hour after he got home from seeing her- because she'd said in the consultation that she was going to speak with one of the other GP's at the practice (as she's a locum) as to whether the two week wait referral was the right thing to do - and call him back and let him know. When she called back, my husband put the call onto speakerphone so I could hear what she was saying, and she didn't seem hugely concerned, she said they would rather just confirm it's a muscle strain and then send him to physio, if he needs it - rather than the very small chance it is something more serious that needs treatment sooner. She said that she did not want us to sit and worry, she was doing this to just make totally sure.

But having worked previously as a NHS medical secretary for some years, Ii know only too well about the worst outcomes of two week wait referrals.
:weep:

I feel sick through nerves and worry. My husband isn't too worried himself, but I suppose he hasn't been through what I have with illness, and the NHS and everything..

Please can someone reassure me in some way!! I am going to be going out of mind until he's had the scan. He is my world, we have only been married for six months and this is going to destroy me inside until we know what is going on for definite :weep::weep:

[debs71]

Hi,

A two week wait referral does not necessarily mean a bad outcome. I speak from having been urgently referred three times myself, been freaking out over it too, and had three good outcomes - once for a lump in my breast, then for a lump on my thyroid, then for very painful hips....none turned out to be anything sinister.

Any kind of urgent referral like this is undoubtedly going to put the fear of God into anyone of a sensitive/nervous nature, and I think that the urgency may be the crux of your fear here, but had your hubby been referred in the normal fashion, would you be so worried? Most good doctors will send a patient for an x-ray or scan with something like this,especially if the area is swollen or inflamed, just to see what is going on, so please take heart in that too. They will especially do this before making a referral to physio, as they don't want to make an unnecessary referral. I had the exact same thing happen to me last year, after experiencing months of hip pain. I was urgently referred for an x-ray, told I had a lumbar spine abnormality, and only then was I referred for physio.....so an urgent referral doesn't always mean something awful!

Try if you can to see this as the doctor simply being very thorough here. I think that the fact that your husband saw a locum also makes a huge difference. In my experience - I was a nurse for many years - locums ALWAYS err on the side of caution in GP practices. They really don't want to make a cock up or miss anything, so will be ultra cautious with patients, generally speaking.

Try not to worry, though I know it is hard. Whatever the scenario here, the doctor is doing the utmost best for your husband, and you will soon have an answer as to what is going on.....I am sure it will be ok. x

[silver_shoes]

Hi Debs,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough response.

I didn't know that about locum GP's, that they tend to be more thorough... I guess it makes sense though.

When my hubby saw her yesterday, he mentioned that I would be very worried due to my health anxiety, and she said that she would be more than happy to speak to me for some reassurance if I wanted to, so I have got a telephone appointment today with one of the other GP's,; as it happens, it is the GP she consulted with for an opinion after she'd seen my husband, so that is fine with me.

I have gone mad with Dr Google, a bad thing to do I know. Been reading sarcoma survival stories.. but also those told from the point of view of loved ones who didn't make it, and it put the fear of God into me when I read that so many of them started with a pain in the leg above the knee. Though it does seem that many of these people were initially dismissed by the GP and sent away with painkillers. And *if* anything is wrong, I should see it as a positive that he is having this scan sooner rather than later.

I have worked myself up into a total state and my poor hubby has gone to work this morning absolutely shattered as we had about 5 hours sleep due me being awake and anxious. I have had a lot of bad times in my life and feel like just when things are going well, something comes along and ruins everything, I used to be a positive person but these days I am very doom and gloom with anything like this. I have visions of becoming a widow at the age of 34 and having to face the rest of my life without him. And, of course, I don't want him to be ill and in pain and having to suffer, he is the loveliest guy you could meet and it seems so unfair that something could potentially be so wrong. He has sat by my hospital bedside enough times over the past three years (Well just under) that we have been together and he's always been so healthy, that this has really knocked me sideways :(

[countrygirl]

Of course you will worry thats perfectly natural but you can be reassured that they are just being super cautious and its better to get this scan done quickly so you can move on.
There is a 99% chance this is just due to an overworked muscle and even worse case scenario he is being scanned very quickly and the problem has only arisen the past few weeks so anything nasty would be picked up quickly.
I totally understand your fear and anxiety though, sending you a cyber hug.

[sputnikmoon]

You have to remember that a week is not a long time for something to hurt, in fact a guy at work woke up last month with searing knee pain, agonising, he hadn't twisted it or done any damage but he was visibly in a lot of pain.

He went to the doctors and they didn't know what was gong on and he got a 2 week ultra sound. Nothing was there, yet he was still in agony.

It's literally only been this past week that it's all gone back to normal and he has no clue what happened to cause the issue!!

I had serious shoulder and pec pain for about 3 months last year, got urgent referrals - they shrugged their shoulders, found nothing and then it finally just subsided finally after 12 weeks!!

You also need to remember, cancer doesn't cause pain, inflammation does. Cancer only starts to hurt when it gets so big that it's effecting the function of structures that are around it. If he has a painful swelling that appeared quickly and is directly hurting, then it's pretty much guaranteed NOT to be cancer. it's inflammation from a pull, overuse or injury.

If he had a rock hard lump, that was fixed in place, didn't directly hurt but was making the area surrounding it hurt and took months to go from a little niggle to something quite painful, then you might have something to check out... but even then chances are more in the favour of it being nothing sinister.

People are always hurting their knees and it always hurts a lot. A week is barely any time at all... and her question of a lump wouldn't be about cancer, it'd be about whether there is a torn ligament, or rupture to the joint casing or muscle...all of which need to get seen to quickly to minimise any lasting damage.

Worst thing that will happen when the pain subsides is he now has a dodgy knee that aches every now and then when it's wet outside...that's a consequence of him heading into his mid-thirties. not cancer. :huh:

[silver_shoes]

Thanks to those who have replied to me so far, I really do appreciate it.

So I had my own telephone appointment with the GP today (husband was fine about this as he understands how worried I am). She said that obviously she was limited as to what information she could divulge, due to patient confidentiality, which I understand. Although she was not the GP who saw my hubby yesterday, she told me that from the notes on the system, it does appear that the two-week urgent referral is simply a precautionary measure. She said that it looks like it is being done just so they can get the scan out of the way quickly, for reassurance. I explained the level of anxiety I am feeling, and that some of this stems from my previous employment as a medical secretary, where I would often see two week wait paperwork in the patient's notes, and speak with them over the phone etc, her response to this was to tell me that of course I am going to only be speaking to the patients who actually are very unwell - and that FAR more people who get referred through two-week wait DON'T have anything sinister going on.

My poor hubby is getting fed up of me examining and poking his leg lol! I have been google imaging sarcoma photos (GP told me that sarcoma is the very unlikely outcome of this) and to be honest, my hubby's leg looks nothing like any of these pics. The pics have very obvious lumps, whereas with my hubbys leg, you can not see anything just by looking at his leg, it's only when you feel the thigh muscles on the top of the upper leg and press it, that it MAYBE feels slightly more generally inflamed; neither me or hubby can feel an actual lump eg like a golf ball.

I am at my PMT time and just getting over a cold/virus so feeling low as it is, and have been a complete emotional wreck today. The GP has mentioned that we should be getting an appointment letter in the post early next week. We had a really nice long Easter weekend away planned, visiting family in the Midlands, however we have had to hold fire on booking train tickets for now in case we need to be home for the scan. It would be great if he had the appointment done and dusted by the end of next week but I doubt it will work out like that, and we will be left in this mental agony all over the Easter weekend :(

It is strange because, like I say, there is nothing obviously visible if you are just looking at his naked legs. Like it is only the ache in his thigh muscle that is noticeable. If he didn't have the pain, there would be NOTHING to draw you to that leg in the slightest.

Arrrrgh this sucks so much.

[silver_shoes]

Hi it's just me again, sorry to bring this thread back to the surface but I am really struggling today :(

I decided I couldn't cope with not knowing anything so we chased things up with the hospital and hubby has got a date for his scan -8th April!! I know this is within the two week thing but this means all of Easter to get through.. I just do not know how I am going to cope. I probably sound very self-centred, but my hubby is not particularly worried! Simply because we can't really even feel a lump on his leg.

I just don't know what to do or how to get through this, I have really lost my temper at the poor dog earlier, screamed at him just for chewing something he shouldn't be... but my mind has gone into overdrive... the thought of my wonderful, kind, sweet husband being taken away from me at the age of 33, its too much :(

[silver_shoes]

Hi, is there ANYONE out there who has been in a similar situation and has been found to be all clear in the end, and worried unnecessarily??? Anyone? please.....

I am really fearing for the sake of my mental health as I am just falling apart, we have managed to get my husbands scan brought forward due to a cancellation... it is now a week tomorrow (31st March) so that is something at least. If they don't let him know the result there and then, I will be on to the GP surgery on the day after and really try to push for the result before that weekend, it's horrible at the weekends when nothing is happening!

My husband and I are snapping at each other because I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that the scan is going to be a bad result, and I am telling him he needs to get his affairs in order etc but he is convinced the scan will be normal, he trusts the GP. I am really scared for my mental health and am not able to cope at all.

[Fishmanpa]

99.9% of the fears posted on the boards turn out to be fine. Of the tens of thousands of posts and fears I've read, I know of two that actually had a serious issue and both are doing fine. I don't see this as any different. Let us know when you get the all clear :)

Positive thoughts

[Josh1234]

Does he lift weights at all? I had pain in my right testicle for over 6 weeks before, and it was from over exerting myself at the gym. Knee problems can be anything. Our bodies start to do funny stuff once we hit our 30's. Even if it is worst case scenario, that doesnt mean he will die.

[bethel777]

I just wanted to say you're not alone in your feelings. I would constantly be worrying if I were in your situation as well. But, with that being said, it is almost always fine. Like 99.9% of the time fine! I'll say a prayer for you and your hubby.

[silver_shoes]

Does he lift weights at all? I had pain in my right testicle for over 6 weeks before, and it was from over exerting myself at the gym. Knee problems can be anything. Our bodies start to do funny stuff once we hit our 30's. Even if it is worst case scenario, that doesnt mean he will die.

No, he doesn't - he walks a lot though. Only thing I suppose that has changed is he has put a bit of weight on in recent months. Maybe it's to do with that; he's not very tall, only 5ft5ins so weight gain shows up quickly on him.