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Convinced I have blood cancer because of confusing test results

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Nervousguy
Nervousguy

About three months ago I went to the gastro doctor for this reoccurring pain on my right side. he sent me for an ultra sound and everything came back normal except for an enlarged spleen. After seeing the doctor and having him review some blood work - he told me everything was normal, but I felt like he was wrong. So I went to my normal general doctor who ran some more blood tests and who also agreed there was no signs of cancer. I'm 30 and feel fine most of the time except when I worry. Anyway about two days after being told about my spleen, I began to have left side pressure, pains, pinching, everything. After a week or two, I had an abdominal mri that came back normal on my spleen and everything else. My first doctor had predicted this would happen based off my blood tests. The difference was the ultrasound had spleen measurements and the Mri just says - appears normal. Because of this, I've convinced myself something was missed. For the next couple months I have been obsessively checking every symptom and poking myself constantly to check if I can feel my spleen. I've been slowly improving on my worry but my abdominal issues continue - feels like a bubble under ribs, some pinching pain or dull pressure. It does seem to be better on be rare occasion I stop thinking about it. I also had a endoscopy last week that showed i have mild gastritis.three nights ago I woke up a little sweaty. Then again the next night and last night again but it seemed like more. After the first night I have been very nervous about night sweats. And when I woke up and took my temp and it was only 96.5. My "normal" temp is around 97.7, but I always worry a low temp means cancer. Last night I may have also been having a migraine and I get these repetitive bad dreams which also could have caused the sweating - but how do you know?Should I keep going to more doctors and get repeat scans - why was the ultrasound wrong? Or was the Mri? Or should I just continue to try and calm down like all my family is basically begging me to do. I just don't want to be the guy that misses some obvious symptoms until it's too late. When do you just trust doctors?

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17 Replies

  • philippa61759
    philippa61759 Nervousguy

    Posted

    Do you get pain that moves all over your stomach and different types of pain along with constipation, diarrhoea or nausea?  Do you have any food intolerances?  

    I have IBS and have dull pain which is sometimes deep grinding, stabbing, or neuralgic.  The pain moves around from my left, middle and to my right side. The intensity varies.  I have had constipation, loose stools, and nausea.  Anxiety makes the pain worse.  When I am calm, my pain is reduced.  Food doesn't affect me.  However, everyone experiences IBS differently.

    Ask your doctor about IBS and ask for a CT, stool tests, a barium enema/colonoscopy, and a celiac blood test.

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  • liz16631
    liz16631 Nervousguy

    Posted

    MRI scans are so accurate and if yours came back normal then I really think you should stop worrying. My nephew is a consultant radiologist and reviews scans all the time. His view would be that the scanner will pick up the slightest abnormality and that ultrasound "measurements" are not always accurate. I would imagine your symptoms are stress related particularly as your blood tests are normal. If you have mild gastritis then this might explain the discomfort you are feeling. Your temperature will naturally be lower in the morning so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about there. It seems to me that you have health anxiety and that a chat with a counsellor will do you far more good than repeating unnecessary tests. 

    Good luck

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  • carole90410
    carole90410 Nervousguy

    Posted

    Hi. I was the same as you. My pain was in my left side predominantly and back but also twinges on my right side. It's a pinching/burning feeling and it can be more painful at times than others. I had convinced myself I had pancreatic cancer but all my bloods came back normal and then I had an abdominal scan to check all internal organs. That all came back normal too. Had endoscopy which showed mild gastritis and the doctor who did it said that that sometimes you can have mild gastritis but severe pain symptoms and severe gastritis but mild pain. Also it can last from a few weeks months or even years but I am n lansoprazole and ranitidine which keeps the pain at bay. I put myself through 3 months of agony and distress so please try to be reassured by your normal results.

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  • craig84609
    craig84609 Nervousguy

    Posted

    Wow, you are worse than me when it comes to worry. Do yourself a favor and try to stop. Meditate or something but some illnesses can be psychological and made worse by worry. You have to stop, you will be much happier for it. Take it from me, I can work myself up to thinking I have just about anything. Hang in there, relax and give yourself a break from the stress.
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  • richard89308
    richard89308 Nervousguy

    Posted

    low temperature does not mean cancer it means your body is a bit cooler than normal.  If you had a high temperature then you would have a fever and a bug probably. Don't go reading into anything other than what the Dr tells you because you have got yourself into a right state.

    rich

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  • WhyWhy
    WhyWhy Nervousguy

    Posted

    I disagree about how accurate MRIs are. I had one done and they said everything was normal yet I have a huge bulge in my left abdomin. Drs are idiots these days and we see this by how many people are here with undiagnosed issues. For me I have over $100k in hospital bills and they still shrug their shoulders when I ask them what's wrong with me. Idiots..... This person has a lot to worry about because everyones telling him he's fine but he's not. All Drs are now days are drug dealers. They haven't cured anything in over 50yrs. They just deal you drugs to treat the symptoms. I wish this person the best and wish him well. 
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    • jim18020
      jim18020 WhyWhy

      Posted

      I couldn't agree with you more but it's also important not to panic and get stressed out as this only makes symptoms worse. Can I ask where exactly the bulge is in your left abdomin and what the doctors have ruled out?
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    • WhyWhy
      WhyWhy jim18020

      Posted

      Forgot to mention what they rulled out. Everything except diverticulitis which is what I think it is but also think it could be a tumor however ct scans and mris didn't pick up on anything but that doesn't mean the tech misread the scans. I think they missed the issue because they also told me I didn't have kidney stones yet when I got home and looked at the scan I found a 2.7mm stone in my right side. Very small but 2 scans and 2 techs completely missed it. That alarms me that I find things they missed and they're the ones who went to school for this stuff. I just Googled "what a kideny stone looks like" and I found it. Yeah, they're idiots.....
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    • jim18020
      jim18020 WhyWhy

      Posted

      Sorry I was talking to you. So I'm guessing the pain is up around the left kidney? Have they checked for Nutcracker Syndrome? Not sure if your a guy or girl but it can happen to either.
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    • jim18020
      jim18020 WhyWhy

      Posted

      Sounds exactly like a hernia. I had one but it was farther down in my groin area but they can occur higher up as well. I would think the docs would have ruled that out but I know better...lol
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    • WhyWhy
      WhyWhy jim18020

      Posted

      haha yeah it's sad. How do they find hernias? I had 3 ct scans and an mri as well as and upper and lower gi check. Only thing they found was diverticulitis but ignored that like it wasn't an issue but I disagree. 
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    • philippa61759
      philippa61759 WhyWhy

      Posted

      Did any doctor mention a hernia?  If you have a bulge in your stomach area, this is a possibility.  I would have thought your doctor would have seen the bulge with his own eyes.
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    • jim18020
      jim18020 WhyWhy

      Posted

      If the bulge is visible and you can press it in it's most likely a hernia. You wouldn't need an MRI to determine this it should be easily seen and felt by a doctor. You said when you sneeze or cough it bulges out. I don't know how it could be anything else. That is the classic symptoms of a hernia!
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