InfiniteJ
14-10-20, 13:31
I’ve dealing with health anxiety for a while now; probably close to 15 years…I’ve had some cases that were “major” that led me to spending major money on different scans, tests, doctor’s visits, etc. and some cases that are more of a blip on the radar that I’m able to eventually power through somewhat easily. I’m currently going through a scare with pancreatic cancer, which I know a lot of you have dealt with as well.
I’m almost 43 years old, father of two, and a partner to the world’s most understanding girlfriend.
A couple of months ago I had an issue with some pretty bad bleeding via internal hemorrhoids, I believe I had one burst and was definitely a moment of panic, but it had happened before and I chalked it up to not being anything serious, even though I do have a family history of colon cancer. After that I had a bout of constipation that I’m still dealing with on-and-off, which started to concern me because I’ve never really had a problem like that before...I tried to blame it on a few minor things at first, but after changing those minor things, the issue still continued.
From there I started having issues with feeling bloated and water-logged…it would come-and-go; I’d deal with it for 4 or 5 days and then it would be gone for a few days before it would come back again. Then I started dealing with indigestion off-and-on, but nothing too persistent; over the counter meds usually helped alleviate the situation.
I actually got to the point where I felt quite a bit better, but then one evening I had a really greasy meal and it’s been all down hill from there…pretty much from that meal forward everything became worse and more persistent; my indigestion is bad enough to were I can’t even drink water without regurgitating some of it back up, same with “mild” foods like toast and bananas. I developed a dull pain in the pit of my stomach that ran through to my upper back, I started having stabbing pains on my left side under my ribcage that also runs through to my back…in fact, my the whole left side of my abdomen aches…especially when laying down. In fact, all these pains are worse when I lay down and somewhat relieved when I get up (other than the dull pain in my stomach, which feels like someone is pressing their fist into my stomach, right below my ribcage). I started to feel nauseous almost every time I ate which always leads to indigestion/regurgitation. I’m now battling acid reflux, which is something I’ve never had before, same with heartburn. My appetite has become almost non-existent and when I do eat, I find myself getting full much sooner than normal…which has led to me losing about 8 to 10 pounds.
I went to my gastroenterologist and told her my story, she didn’t dismiss my worries about my pancreas, but she was definitely more concerned about getting me in for a colonoscopy (which I have on the 20th of this month), she gave me a prescription of Omeprazole, talked about doing a ultrasound on my gallbladder, and did some blood work, all which came back fine…or so I thought. After going back and looking at the blood work results myself I noticed something that really panicked me; my blood sugar was elevated to the point where it was flagged as being “pre-diabetic”, which of course was one of the symptoms that I had remembered reading about and constantly reminding myself that I didn’t have because I have no history of high blood sugar, at least not to my knowledge.
I have a regular pre-scheduled appointment with my general practitioner tomorrow and I have yet to see them since all this has started…I want to tell them that I want a CT scan of my abdomen, but I’m pretty sure my doctor won’t go for it.
I’m trying to keep a level head and tell myself that this probably just my gallbladder acting up (5 years ago I was told I had gallstones after a ultrasound, but the doctor didn’t want to remove anything)…but we all know how that works; my mind keeps going back to cancer and how doctors won’t find it until it’s too late.
Anyways, I know a lot of you on here have dealt with the exact same stress and anxiety over the thoughts/symptoms of pancreatic cancer…does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom they could share…it would be much appreciated.
I’m almost 43 years old, father of two, and a partner to the world’s most understanding girlfriend.
A couple of months ago I had an issue with some pretty bad bleeding via internal hemorrhoids, I believe I had one burst and was definitely a moment of panic, but it had happened before and I chalked it up to not being anything serious, even though I do have a family history of colon cancer. After that I had a bout of constipation that I’m still dealing with on-and-off, which started to concern me because I’ve never really had a problem like that before...I tried to blame it on a few minor things at first, but after changing those minor things, the issue still continued.
From there I started having issues with feeling bloated and water-logged…it would come-and-go; I’d deal with it for 4 or 5 days and then it would be gone for a few days before it would come back again. Then I started dealing with indigestion off-and-on, but nothing too persistent; over the counter meds usually helped alleviate the situation.
I actually got to the point where I felt quite a bit better, but then one evening I had a really greasy meal and it’s been all down hill from there…pretty much from that meal forward everything became worse and more persistent; my indigestion is bad enough to were I can’t even drink water without regurgitating some of it back up, same with “mild” foods like toast and bananas. I developed a dull pain in the pit of my stomach that ran through to my upper back, I started having stabbing pains on my left side under my ribcage that also runs through to my back…in fact, my the whole left side of my abdomen aches…especially when laying down. In fact, all these pains are worse when I lay down and somewhat relieved when I get up (other than the dull pain in my stomach, which feels like someone is pressing their fist into my stomach, right below my ribcage). I started to feel nauseous almost every time I ate which always leads to indigestion/regurgitation. I’m now battling acid reflux, which is something I’ve never had before, same with heartburn. My appetite has become almost non-existent and when I do eat, I find myself getting full much sooner than normal…which has led to me losing about 8 to 10 pounds.
I went to my gastroenterologist and told her my story, she didn’t dismiss my worries about my pancreas, but she was definitely more concerned about getting me in for a colonoscopy (which I have on the 20th of this month), she gave me a prescription of Omeprazole, talked about doing a ultrasound on my gallbladder, and did some blood work, all which came back fine…or so I thought. After going back and looking at the blood work results myself I noticed something that really panicked me; my blood sugar was elevated to the point where it was flagged as being “pre-diabetic”, which of course was one of the symptoms that I had remembered reading about and constantly reminding myself that I didn’t have because I have no history of high blood sugar, at least not to my knowledge.
I have a regular pre-scheduled appointment with my general practitioner tomorrow and I have yet to see them since all this has started…I want to tell them that I want a CT scan of my abdomen, but I’m pretty sure my doctor won’t go for it.
I’m trying to keep a level head and tell myself that this probably just my gallbladder acting up (5 years ago I was told I had gallstones after a ultrasound, but the doctor didn’t want to remove anything)…but we all know how that works; my mind keeps going back to cancer and how doctors won’t find it until it’s too late.
Anyways, I know a lot of you on here have dealt with the exact same stress and anxiety over the thoughts/symptoms of pancreatic cancer…does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom they could share…it would be much appreciated.