If a Dr said this to you, how would you feel?

[PissyDressingGown]

So you go in with a list of symptoms including weight loss, mild confusion, fatigue and hunger and thirst. Whilst there you casually mention that you have a lump which keeps coming up in your lower abdomen (thinking hernia here). Dr more or less ignores all your symptoms, doesn't bother checking this lump and says the following:

"I'm not concerned as it doesn't sound like cancer".

WTF - I wasn't even thinking cancer, I certainly am now. I never mentioned that so why would he?? Why would you mention a word like that if you didn't think that's what it was??

On top of this I can't actually get an appointment to review the blood tests as they're fully booked up for more than two weeks. Absolute joke.

We don't have walk in centres!

I would be reassured that I didn't have cancer and from your comment on bloods it would suggest that you are being appropriately investigated.

Ok, fair enough, I may have had a slightly post traumatic reaction to this post. So, go to a walk in centre OP, phone 111, if all else fails go to A+E but do SOMETHING and please do it today.

Sorry, DKA is an awful thing to witness and they told me in the HDU that GPs miss it all the time.

Also OP has had these symptoms for 3 months, we aren’t looking at a marked decline in condition over the last 24 hours. Another reason not to fill A&E needlessly.

Cross post above with your last one Alpaca - I’ll stop defending the doors of A&E now!! :-)

FWIW i think you are probably right as well, just think she’s better off pesevering with GP route for now.

So he didn't examine you, ask you to pee in a pot or anything? I'm sorry but I think he's not done his job. Surely medical experience has resulted in him knowing that an external picture might be completley falsely reassuring? And that with red flag symptoms that you told him about he should have been alerted and done much more. I'd call the surgery and ask to go back for an appointment before the weekend and say you want a urine test and glucose thumb prick test at the very least. It will take seconds.

In addition to diabetes type 1 it bpcould be type 2 as early symptoms can be similar. It could be hypothyroidism. There is so much it could be but without going back and soon, you are delaying something that could be potentially serious.

Of course the op shouldn’t feel relieved.....the GP didn’t even check or loo at the lump!

Regardless of whether they thought it was cancer or not, they should have palpated her abdomen.

OP you should make another appointment with a different doctor and explain that you would like the lump to be examined and you don’t want to be fobbed off.

I would have thought those symptoms would definitely need further investigation. Nobody here can diagnose you or even suggest everything is fine (just because thr GP said it).

I hope it is all fine but defo go back and ask to be examined properly.

This is where the NHS lets people down very badly. GPs can often be dismissive unless it’s an obviously urgent serious issue. You have to repeatedly go back to the GP to try and push for further investigation and referrals that take months. Meanwhile months and years pass by and by then the problem gets worse or ends up being an emergency. By the time they get a diagnosis you need far more treatment than you would have done had the GP been more thorough in the first place. This practice is costing the NHS money and it is ruining people’s lives.

And no they do not always contact you if there is a concern following blood tests. I was told if there was a problem they would call and despite being severely anemic NO ONE contacted me. It was picked up by a midwife when I was pregnant months later.

Doris we have to phone and the receptionist either says, Dr wants to see you or bloods all normal. If something really wrong they will phone.

I always go and collect a print-off for my bloods (it’s surprising how many people don’t know you can do this) and then (having a fair bit of medical training) can work out just how ‘ok’ or not they are.

So even though they might call and say your bloods are fine, they might only just be within the given parameters but stil be really high or really low on that scale. Eg. You might be 0.1 away from anaemia so whilst the GP won’t call you back, you could up you’re haem iron intake and feel a whole lot better.

Also thinking type 1 diabetes

Unfortunately I think the only way to get anything to happen these days is to become a PITA.

OP - please get a finger prick blood test, ideally testing 2 hours after a meal that is heavy in carbohydrates. You are showing symptoms of type one diabetes which can become an emergency.

@Usernumbers1234 if more GPs looked for the symptoms of T1D and performed appropriate tests, then people wouldn't need to go to A&E (says someone whose son was up and functioning in DKA with a blood glucose of 50 mmol when we presented at A&E having been brushed off by the GP several times. Going to A&E saved his life.)

BTW OP many pharmacies will do a BG test for you as you are an adult, but if not you can buy a glucose monitor for about £25 I think. It's not ideal as the GP should have done finger prick there and then (not urine test) but if you don't feel your symptoms are A&E worthy you can test at home.

Depending on what boxes were ticked on the blood form bloods can also be a test for diabetes.

Don't waste A&E's time for a second opinion unless you are seriously unwell.

I think boots will do finger prick. You’ll know from that whether diabetes is likely. If high, then you need urgent care.

While I don't wish to sway your doctor's opinion in any way, which is reassuring I agree. I and my family have had a long arduous history with doctors and untimely or incorrect diagnosis. And it has made me question everything now, trust doesn't come easily, and we are our own best advocates. My mother had two different cancers misdiagnosed young. In both cases, she had to take things forward herself. Unfortunately she didn't survive the 2nd cancer. We were told it was almost certainly genetic, (big family history), and when I mentioned this years ago to our GP, she just shrugged and seemed baffled by what I thought they could do.

My father was also misdiagnosed as having arthritis pain, which turned out to be secondaries that had forward throughout his body,, from a primary they never knew he had! 2 months after sitting down with his consultant, reassuring us he was the healthiest patient he had, our father had also passed away.
Fast forward to my own kids, and my daughter has had serious health issues which were initially not taken seriously at all. And on one occasion, was sent home by our GP, with scepticaemia. Thankfully my gut instinct prevailed, and I had taken her to A&E instead.
If you feel something is wrong OP, then you really have to speak up I feel. They have ten minutes to take a lot in, and tend to base their judgment on risk..and the most likely reason for a symptom x, y or z. Which is mostly true of course, but not without exception.
Hope you feel better soon