Should I ask for a second opinion

[Fj2014]

I had a smear test yesterday and whilst I was there asked the doctor about a painful lump I found on my right hip bone - she had a feel and said it's more likely to be a mass of tendons around the bone.

I'm worried it's a bone tumour - would she have told me if she had any concerns?

Because I added it on at the end of an appointment I don't know whether to make an appointment with my GP to have it looked at on it's own.

I have recently had clear bloods, pelvic ultrasound, urine and stools - would cancer have shown up in them?

So stressed out and trying to get over this.

Any advice would be lovely.
xxx

[Serenity1990]

Because of the suing culture we have these days on top of the serious repercussions of getting it wrong, if there is the slightest chance of those sort of things doctors always refer just in case.

[Fj2014]

I know that really - I'm just sick of being so scared all the time.
I've literally been turned inside out these past few months trying to find something wrong with me ... and nothing!!

[Serenity1990]

Clearly they have found something wrong with you: it's called anxiety. It's a real physical condition (the brain is part of the body same as your foot is) with real physical symptoms. So why are you still searching?

[Fj2014]

I'm not entirely sure to be honest - I think it's become habit more than anything.
I am doing an online cbt course which helping to an extent but then triggers such as a routine smear make me anxious again yet I have noticed the anxiety symptoms more ie. I read a daily mail article about bone cancer and automatically noticed the symptoms described .. it's interesting really.

Thanks for your support here - i really appreciate it

[Serenity1990]

Why do people read the Daily Mail? They last wrote something factual in 1972, it really just is a cross between shameless sensensionalisation of stuff that's barely news and slightly racist right-wing propaganda. Switch to a proper paper and you'll be fine.

[Fj2014]

Funniest thing is .. I'm a news reporter myself (hence having to read everything!) so I know a sensationalised story when I see one.. ridiculous really!!

[Junot]

If you're still worried and doubting the doctor you visited, see another doctor and ask for a second opinion. If you're still not convinced, visit another one. I don't know if this is just me, maybe I'm going crazy, but I feel that doctors tend to oversimplify their patients' worries more than they should. Just as an example: my GP and a dermatologist I visited both prescribed me a drug which is highly hepatotoxic. They told me to check my liver function only 4 to 6 weeks after beginning the treatment (yes, that's what the official, standardized, peer-reviewed and internationally-approved guidelines usually say). I was reluctant, because I've been taking so much pills these last 8 years that I doubted my liver would stand another one - moreover, a highly hepatotoxic one. I visited a second dermatologist. He told the same the others did. I didn't take the pills - and thankfully I didn't, I guess. It happens that I had blood tests done, requested by a cardiologist, and the results came yesterday. One of the liver enzymes was on the upper limit of the reference range and the other one was several tens higher than it should be. Now imagine what would have happened if I had taken that medication. I would have worsen the stress my liver is apparently experiencing. I think doctors should stop following guidelines so strictly and paying more attention to their patients concerns. Even if that means to refer a patient for an extra exam that according to the guideline shouldn't be performed, for instance. One never knows...