Lump below left ribs

[Charchar88]

Hi everyone.

I'm having a crisis at the moment due to a sort of painless mass I can feel just below my left ribs. It seems to be quite large, and follows where my colon is. It kind of feels like my colon is just hard?

I wouldn't have noticed it at all but a doctor picked it up a week ago whilst examining me for something else, and now I'm freaking out that I have cancer.

I have been to see my GP this morning and he wasn't sure what it was - even got another GP to have a look and he was also unsure. They referred me to get a CT scan urgently to find out what it is.

I do have Ulcerative Colitis, but my symptoms are fairly well managed at the moment, and I have no other symptoms at all apart from some rib pain (I've just had a baby two weeks ago, so doctor thinks the rib pain is to do with that).

The more experienced GP said the only things really there are my colon and muscles. I had a colonoscopy just over a year ago and no polyps or anything were found, so I'm trying to convince myself that means I can't have a large cancerous lump in my colon already? Doesn't colon cancer take a while to appear?

I'm hoping it is just Ulcerative Colitis inflammation or something like that, but I'm worrying so much. Hopefully my CT scan will be soon - should be within a couple of weeks I think as it's urgent.

Has anyone had something similar? Or has anything that could put my mind at rest a little?

I wish I could just forget about it until my scan, and just assume it's nothing horrible. But that's not how my anxiety works!

Thanks

[Catkins]

Congratulations on the new baby!

I haven't got any experience of this but as soon as you put that you had ulcerative colitis, I thought it could be related to that.

Keep busy and do all you can to distract yourself until your scan comes through.

[Charchar88]

Thank you 🙂

I had my CT scan today so hopefully won't have to wait too long for the results. I do keep telling myself it's more likely to be colitis related than something really scary, but then my anxiety kicks in and start thinking the worst again!