Please forgive the long-ish post. I have a dilemma and I really don't know what to do.
The summary is as follows: I have some belly and back pain my rational brain believes is nothing major, maybe back strain from sitting all day. My irrational brain thinks liver cancer, colon cancer, or some other abdominal malignancy. My blood labs are all normal, bowel habits normal, no liver disease other than fatty liver, had a negative Cologuard last year. No family history. I am 43.
My doctor is very patient with me. When I reported to him I was still having this belly pain after 2 months, he ordered an abdominal CT with contrast. I know he is doing this because (i) that is acceptable given the duration of the pain; and (ii) (and perhaps most relevantly) he knows I am panicking over this and imaging will help, assuming a negative scan. He doesn't mind letting me "give in" to the scan demon.
My dilemma is that I want to stop "giving in" to scans. I really do. A search of my records/diary over the last few years shows something like 5-6 abdominal ultrasounds, 3-4 testicular ultrasounds, numerous head CTs and MRIs, etc. All negative except for incidental findings of no significance (those increase as you get older). I do "obsess" over this belly pain and want it to go away, but I am more terrified of the scan and possible ominous results. The more I think about it, there has been more imaging than I just mentioned. There were also heart echos, EKGs, a Holter monitor, etc. All negative. That's too much, right?
My biggest fear, I suppose, is that I am 43. How am I going to deal with this in my 50s and 60s? - when the chances of there being a real disease increase from "unlikely," to "ehh, maybe."
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Originally Posted by Flapj
