Hi - long story
I noticed back in February or March that the right side of my abdomen was swollen and I could even feel a large longish lump on that side. My father died of bowel cancer (with no symptoms until immediately before his death) plus I have HA so you can imagine that it was quite a trauma. I went to see my GP but he said he couldn't feel anything that shouldn't be there. Later I started having pain on that side (to admit it might have had something to do with me constantly pressing the area), and also I had diarrhoea sometimes (could have been from the constant panic though) so I went back to the GP with the pain symptom, he again felt my stomach and said it felt normal.
I'm not originally from the UK and in the summer I visited my home country where I got an abdominal ultrasound which was clear and I had a thorough blood test and the results were perfect, no anaemia, nothing. This calmed me and other symptoms (diarrhoea, pain) completely disappeared. Soon I became worried again about the lump and this time I started feeling breathless. I read stories on how right side bowel cancer often has no symptoms except for breathlessness and tiredness from anaemia and despite the clear blood test I've been in a complete freakout in the past month and torn between wanting to have more tests and knowing that I have HA and a tendency to exaggerate my symptoms.
Finally today I read an online blog about a guy who felt exactly the same - lump on the right side, and he described it to be similar to mine - which turned out to be terminal bowel cancer, and he died since.
This was such a shock, I've just called my GP and got an appointment for tomorrow. I'm in a complete state with worry over my family and death and long-term sickness, don't know what to do... if it is indeed cancer, how can they not have picked it up? We're not talking about a small lump, it's huge. But I'm in doubt as I wrote to another doctor in my home country asking for advice and she said that the ultrasound would have picked up something that big and suggested that it could be that I have a weak abdominal wall and in some positions the pressure causes it to look uneven. Help! I'm making myself sick with worry...
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Maybe ask your doctor if you can have a stool test because I think this tests for bowel cancer cos I think they are sending kits out in our area to everyone over 60 and it's meant to be just a simple test. I think you are just feeling anxious because your dad died of bowel cancer. How old was he when he died? I suppose it doesn't always follow that we die of what our parents die of because I know my mums mum died of a massive heart attack at 56 years old and yet my mum never had any problems with her heart and died at nearly 81 due to emphysema but her heart was always strong.
Originally Posted by amu
I'm trying to separate real-life serious problems from those created by my anxious mind, and when in doubt I need something tangible, like an evidence that helps me think objectively about my symptoms.
