Ultrasound question

[icantthinkofausername]

Hi

im having an ultrasound on thursday as ive been having abdominal pain for 8 weeks which i think is a cyst. Will i get told what it is during the scan or will i have to wait to see a consultant?

Thanks

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

It depends on the sonographer, some will say what they see and some won't. I hope it goes well.

[icantthinkofausername]

Thanks was really hoping to find out on thursday, eight weeks on and I'm starting to feel quite anxious now :(

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

You could ask? I had a scan on Thursday and she told me.

[digerd]

If it's the stenographer only, then the specialist usually has to see the pictures, stydy them and give a diagnosis.
Only of the specialist does the Ultra Sound will you be told. That is my experience.

[digerd]

opps "study", and " if". Just eaten an enormous meal and feeling tired.
Time for my kip.

[Huffpot]

I've had 2 cysts and during the initial scans in which they were found the sonographer told me but then obviously I had to see my consultant for more information and next steps.
Good luck!

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

Not quite, digerd. A sonographer is qualified to examine the images and they don't usually need someone else to study or diagnose them. The images do assist in a diagnosis though but the doctors use a report which is produced by the sonographer, the doctors rarely see the images. Some sonographers will tell the patient, some won't. (Guess where I used to work!)

[digerd]

The Ultra sounds I have had have been echocardiograms, which are more specialised, I expect.
I had one on my Thyroid, but it was GP who after he got the results who told me it had grown back to normal size < after a sub-total Thyroidectomy>
Also in Germany the specialist did it themselves and was told that he saw nothing so most be a fluid filled cyst.
I do remember having one in the gyny dept on a full bladder but all I remember was the frantic dash to the loo afterwards- that's all I could think about.

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

An echocardiogram measures the blood flow through the heart and the results do need a doctor to interpret as they have to be looked at with other results (such as an ECG).

[digerd]

Yes, 2 years ago it was 3m per second cross the aorta, had increased due to heart valve leakage.
Strange that in Germany in 1994, their machine did not show fluid filled cysts, but my DD had one on her ovary just 3 years ago, and was told it was most likely a cyst - not cancer- appearing to be fluid and semi solid.
I can only assume the Ultra sounds have improved to show fluid now?

[icantthinkofausername]

Digerd - so are ultrasound scans able to tell if a cyst is cancerous. Have family history of ovarian cancer so I'm a bit worried :(

[digerd]

I read that they couldn't, but with DD, they told her to wait 6 weeks as they were almost sure it was a cyst. I was beside myself, -but after 6 weeks the cyst had disappeared/shrunk to the size of a dot. So they were right.
Tumours are normally solid tissue and cysts are not, so the scan does give a good degree of certainty.
The main symptom of Ovarian cancer appears quite late, but still survivable, and that is a bloated stomach looking like 6 months pregnant which is fluid.
Only some have pain.
The ovaries are low down above your pubic bone on both sides above your groins.
Where do you have the pain and did they say which part of your abdomen they would be looking at.?

[icantthinkofausername]

There scanning lower abdomen on the right. I have the pain in my lower right abdomen, but recently is hurting a little more in the upper abdomen. I've also had back she recently but I'm due on soon so that could be the reason. Will the cyst be clear if I'm on my period when I have the scan or do they shrink then?

[icantthinkofausername]

*back pain

[digerd]

Ovaries swell a little before ovulation < at least my knowledge of female dogs, but they ovulate several eggs and not just one normally as in human females. But in a period I really don't know, think they are normal size.
My DD had a shrunken ovary and they could tell that on the scan, the other was normal size.
Have you been told you must have a full bladder?

[icantthinkofausername]

Yes need to have a full bladder

[digerd]

My DD had that, but so did I in my 50s and was frantic as couldn't hold it very long. DD being 20 years younger had no problem.
Good Luck on Thursday.

[sashh]

An echocardiogram measures the blood flow through the heart and the results do need a doctor to interpret as they have to be looked at with other results(such as an ECG)

It measures a damn sight more than that. The Physiologist (sometimes still called a tech) will produce a report with stills, only if the cardiologist wants to see the recording will it be produced.

[digerd]

When I had my aortic valve leakage diagnosed, my report just mentioned the meters per second across the valve and the thickness of walls of the heart. And the mitral valve condition. No mention of the Ejection Fraction, though.
My ECGs had previously been "Abnormal L.or R Atrium enlarged" was disregarded as trivial by my local NHS hospital twice in 4 years

[icantthinkofausername]

Digerd - I'm not looking forward to the full bladder part - at the moment when I have to go I have to go as it causes pain

[digerd]

Oh dear. Hang on in there, they can't see properly if bladder not full. Can you take a painkiller pill? That will not affect the scan. I do hope you get it sorted soon, constant pain is so debilitating and then your worry about the cause of it too, especially with your family history.
Wish you all the best of luck

[icantthinkofausername]

Yeah will take a painkiller before

Thank you x