| HealthyHopes
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| ughghg those barium drinks are so gross--I feel for ya! Well, good luck tonight, keep us all posted. |
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Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:06 pm |
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| VallieGal
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UPDATE -
I went for the CT scan, it was a quick, relatively painless procedure (minus the IV site and the contrast which makes you feel hot all over for a few minutes). I finally heard from my Dr's office, which called to say the radiologist did NOT see anything on my kidney - but DID see 'thickening of the sigmoid colon' - and to recommend a *pelvic* CT to further evaluate.
Brother! I'm getting a little tired of chasing around my entire body on a wild goose chase for the source of this upper stomach (epigastric) pain!
I'm getting to the point that I might have to learn to live with it - as it doesn't occur all the time, and it's getting less intense. This doesn't sound reasonable tho, given "modern medicine" and supposedly the ability to fix ANYthing - but I'm losing faith in my own profession (healthcare).
I watched a show about a woman who had horrible GI problems, and balance issues, vision problems - and it took doctors TEN YEARS to diagnose a VITAMIN DEFICIENCY! Wow! That was horrible - and embarrassing for anyone in the health professions, to me.
Anyway - I had Sumner pick up all my test results from the doctor - as he had an appointment and I was busy at work the last two days. I'm going to look over everything, and maybe either get in to see my own doc again, or find another for a 2nd opinion. :roll: |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:26 am |
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| HealthyHopes
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| Wow..I'm sorry you are going through such a hard time right now. Since I'm not in healthcare I have no idea what "thickening of the sigmoid colon" means...is that an official diagnosis? Or just another symptom? Do they have a treatment plan? Man, I hope things start improving for you--it is terrible going through medical problems. :cry: |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:30 pm |
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| luvs_torun
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I am actually impressed that (with your symptoms occuring only a week ago)..... you've already gotten appointments, seen docs, had lab work done and had an ultrasound and a CT!
You must be very fortunate to live where you are able to receive medical care so quickly.
Seriously. :? |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:47 pm |
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| VallieGal
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Luvs - I *do* live in a large city - and I'm a nurse and work in a hospital, so I guess I use that knowledge to know who to call and how to get in quickly to get things done. I had to make several phone calls to different hospitals in my employer's chain of hospitals to find who had the soonest appointments, and I had to almost miss something important in order to go do the right preps for the tests, etc.
But honestly, if I had been a patient like the ones I see on my own floor with this complaint, the tests would have all been done within hours or a day, not over the course of a week, so in my own mind, this much time waiting for answers is relatively frustrating for me. I'm used to getting answers very quickly for my own patients, that when it comes to this experience, it's seems very slow.
You're right though - had I lived somewhere remote, I might not even have gotten the first test done yet, let alone hear back and get follow-up tests done the next day. |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:30 pm |
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| VallieGal
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Oh - I'm not sure what they mean about my colon either - but a quick look online leads me down the path of diverticulitis. Oh joy.
But here's the thing - I really don't think this has anything to do with my very localized pain up above my belly button below my ribcage.
I can eat nuts, grainy things - have been for all my life, and including on south beach, and I don't get the first pain. I had a nutty granola bar at work the other day, but this was AFTER my pain started. The bar helped soothe my stomach somewhat - and it had almonds in it. That would NOT be a good thing for someone with diverticulitis to eat.
Now, we may have stumbled onto something unrelated - like they were trying to see with my kidney - but, I'm not inclined to do any more tests that don't focus on my UPPER abdomen. The tests they can still do for that would be an upper GI, or a scope down into the stomach and duodenum to see what could be causing the pain. I don't know. To check out the colon, I could get a scope up that end too - woo hoo - sounds like a blast! |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:54 pm |
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| luvs_torun
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Quote: But honestly, if I had been a patient like the ones I see on my own floor with this complaint, the tests would have all been done within hours or a day, not over the course of a week, so in my own mind, this much time waiting for answers is relatively frustrating for me. I'm used to getting answers very quickly for my own patients, that when it comes to this experience, it's seems very slow
As a nurse then you know that outpatient services and inpatient services are treated differently... :wink:
Sounds like you are getting excellent care.
We have a "small" hospital system in our town ... called the Mayo Clinic.
Even they can't produce that type of turn around time (not even for employee's or their families)! :D
I hope they "cure what ails ya" though.
It is frustrating when you aren't feeling up to par and you're not sure why. |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:26 pm |
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| VallieGal
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Did it sound like I'm whining? your comments lead to me to think your impression of me is that I'm whining. I'm not - or trying NOT to - I'm just really frustrated, tired of hurting, and getting annoyed - mostly at the experience with my doctor's office.
Here's an example.
I have one piece of paper sending me to get an ultrasound. It's actually 2 ultrasounds - done at the same time, read by the same guy, resulted at the same time one would think. I'm told that the turnaround is 2 days - okay - fine - great - I can wait to hear in two days.
A few hours later, the doctor's office calls - says "nothing wrong with your gall bladder, but 'an area of concern on your kidney - the doc wants you to get a CT of the abdomen" <--- the speed of the results and the unrelated 'find' and the report actually reads "3.1 cm renal mass" - that sounds scary as heck!
What do I do? Find the fastest way to get a CT scan done - and ask politely about the turnaround time. "Oh, the doc will read it tonight, and send results to your doc tomorrow - automatically"
The 'next day' - I'm at work, waiting, wondering, worrying about a mass I had no idea I had - and when I don't hear from my doc's - I call. I get a person on the phone tell me "Oh, yeah, the OTHER U/S came in - they see x, y and z now - and they recommend you get a CT" I had one last night - I'm waiting to hear. "Oh, that was an ABDOMINAL one - now we recommend you get a pelvic one" - which means I'd have to drink 2 liters of barium AGAIN - and get another IV, and get another charge for a separate visit - instead of combining the two tests.
Two more times during this same day, I get phone calls from my doctor's office "We want you to know about your US - you need a CT" By the *third* call saying the SAME thing, I finally told the person "Look - I'm not trying to be rude - but no, I'm NOT coming to pick up an order for a new test until I hear about the OTHER test please"
And all the while - I feel like I'm playing Chutes and Ladders - chasing all over my abdomen for yet another thing to have a mass or cyst on it. I'm told that the pelvic ultrasound sees a cyst on my ovary, and it sees a fibroid on my uterus. Each test negates the previous one, and goes to another area of the body 'finding' something else 'wrong'.
When I finally get word about the CT, it does NOT find a mass on my kidney, but now *it* finds a problem with my colon. huh??
Would any of these body parts give someone upper stomach pain? Kidney? Ovary? Uterus? Colon? - um... no, no, no and NO
I just would like an answer - why my gut feels like it's being wrung out - and how can I get rid of this feeling so I can try to take better care of myself and get back to exercising which I miss already. |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 6:15 pm |
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| luvs_torun
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Quote: Did it sound like I'm whining? your comments lead to me to think your impression of me is that I'm whining .
lol...yeah, big time!
To me it sounds as if you're getting the white glove treatment. :lol:
Quote: Would any of these body parts give someone upper stomach pain? Kidney? Ovary? Uterus? Colon? - um... no, no, no and NO
Ruptured ectopics can cause "all over" abdominal pain....
as can a ruptured ovarian cyst.
or I am sure you've heard of "referred pain"?
I would imagine that is one reason they are checking all your abdominal organs (and running the different tests).
I'd sit tight, be patient, and let them do their job. :) |
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Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:02 pm |
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| DebbyC
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IMO, nurses do not get the best care - a lot of times the medical providers do things to try to anticipate what you are going to ask for and then stumble over themselves getting an initial review and then someone else's opinion rather than let it run it's normal evaluation/course.
Why don't you just ask for an EGD?
Diverticulitis can be present for years and not cause problems with nuts/seeds, until one day it does. Then you get an inflamation and it hurts like he!! in whichever spot the inflammation is in....I have had one inflammation, which is when they discovered that my fibroids were also contributing to the problem, so lets do a hysterectomy, and while we're in there, lets perforate your small bowel and despite you're bitching and complaining about fever and vomiting and feeling like you're dying, lets don't diagnose it for 2 weeks and let you get DVTs in both legs and nearly die....I say avoid doctors at all costs!!!
and barium??? geez for a CT scan??? that's weird, I thought they were using the liquid contrast. I did a case once on a guy that had an abdominal injury and they gave him barium [idiots] and it seeped all out from his perforated gut and cemented all his abdominal organs together.... |
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Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:17 pm |
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| VallieGal
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DebbyC - what you're mentioning reminds me why I need to keep the proper amount of realism in the faith I have in medicine. (not a lot) ;)
BTW - The barium is "CT barium" - it's a lot thinner than the upper GI barium (thick chalky stuff) - but it's still not all that pleasant to drink.
Note to self - all of the people working in medicine are just people - big, fat fallible people - some with attitudes, some with agendas, and some who are more worried about something in their own personal life than providing the best care possible. I see it in my own working environment, so why should other areas be any different? Other note to self - nothing ever goes textbook for people in the healthcare field when seeking medical care. If something weird/unusual happens, it usually happens to nurses.
luvs - I know you think I'm getting 'white glove treatment' - but I really don't. I think I'm getting standard treatment. If it was 'white glove', I would have had a limo out front to take me to the radiology department, the doctor would have invited me in to read the wet films with him, and I would have had my own doctor attend too, to fan me if I got too warm from the contrast. :lol:
I didn't have the pain yesterday - for the first day in over a week. Not sure if this means it was something along the lines of an infection that is getting better, or I just imagined the whole thing (ha! right) This morning, it's back to a dull ache - nothing debilitating, but a bit 'gnawing'. Oh wait, maybe I'm hungry! ;) |
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Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:13 am |
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| veggies yuk
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| valliegal...as someone who it took over 4 years to figure out that i was perimenopausal...i understand your frustration...also...when i had pain similar to yours it was my esophagus...i have holes in it...and when my stomach was empty...the gases would seep out of the holes and upset the whole belly area...hope this helps |
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Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:55 pm |
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| jmspeach
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| I have never really thought about some of these things. Thank you for some insight! |
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Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:07 pm |
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| VallieGal
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I haven't had the pain in the last 2 - 3 days. It's strange. I don't want to jinx myself by talking about it, but wanted to share. I have not changed my diet too much - still eating whatever I want - salads, nuts, meat, etc - and I have not had the pain. The 'plumbing' is working as it usually does too - so I don't know what to make of it.
I'm going today to see my doctor - review ALL of the tests - and see if there is anything they can suggest to alleviate my concern about any pain coming back again. That's what I'm afraid of - that all the tests are negative, and at the moment the pain being gone, I'll be dismissed - and while going along, I'll get another 'attack' out of the blue. NOT looking forward to that, should it happen.
Also - I'm NOT going to have anymore awesome blossoms - no matter how tasty. The last couple we've had have been overdone and not enjoyable anyway - so I don't know WHY we continue to order it. (twice in 6 months - not like a weekly thing).
I'll post what the doc says this afternoon.
Thanks for all of the support and interest in this - I appreciate it! |
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Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:20 pm |
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