Stomach cancer ?

[Vviane80]

Hi all
I know some people here are dealing with cancer or loved ones diagnosed with cancer so I sincerely apologize to anyone who may feel like this kind of post is inappropriate here

I’m 40, no health problem so far but I’ve had a pretty bad diet for the past 10 years or so. I’m now overweight.
Last month? I started feeling mild pain in my upper abdomen after a spicy diner. I pinned it on the spices and moved on. The pain lasted for a few hours. After a couple of days tho, it came back but was only in my left upper abdomen. A mild but persistent pain that has never stopped since.
Some times it gets worst, mainly after eating.
Some times I feel the pain more in the middle then it “moves” back to the left
Wearing a bra Or sitting at my desk makes it worst while laying down relieves it.
I also have back pain and joint pain. It all started around the same time but I don’t now if it’s related or if the back and joint pain are due to me exercising again
I went to my GP. She ordered blood work and an ultrasound. The blood work came back clean expect for the sedimentation rate and ferritin levels that are slightly elevated
The abdominal ultrasound was clear.
But the pain would not go away so the GP referred me to a gastroenterologist
He gave me 2 pain killers and scheduled a CT scan because, in his opinion, the ultrasound was bs since I’m overweight
He thinks it’s probably IBS but wants to be safe.
I’m really scared. I’m thinking about cancer all the time. Stomach or bowel cancer. My uncle died of stomach cancer last year. He was 70.

Presume they've ruled out gallbladder ?

Are they not doing an endoscopy? I've had your symptoms, plus nausea and abdominal discomfort, for nearly 18months. It does come and go with me, ie I can have it for weeks, then it goes for weeks. I had an endoscopy which ruled out cancer, gastritis and an ulcer. I do have a long standing mild IBS diagnosis though, and the gastroenterologist I saw said, even before the endoscopy, that she was fairly sure my symptoms were an extension of IBS.

Try not to worry, easy though I know that is to say. I find worrying makes me feel worse too. It is unlikely to be cancer at your age.

@notapizzaeater

Presume they've ruled out gallbladder ?

The ultrasound checked the liver, pancreas and kidneys. The radiologist said everything was fine but didn’t mention the gallbladder in his report. Now the gastroenterologist cast a doubt on the entire thing because of my BMI so...

@Kittytheteapot

Are they not doing an endoscopy? I've had your symptoms, plus nausea and abdominal discomfort, for nearly 18months. It does come and go with me, ie I can have it for weeks, then it goes for weeks. I had an endoscopy which ruled out cancer, gastritis and an ulcer. I do have a long standing mild IBS diagnosis though, and the gastroenterologist I saw said, even before the endoscopy, that she was fairly sure my symptoms were an extension of IBS.

Try not to worry, easy though I know that is to say. I find worrying makes me feel worse too. It is unlikely to be cancer at your age.

The gastroenterologist said we would do the scanner first then, if it’s clear and the medication doesn’t help, we would do both endoscopy And colonoscopy. He said both are invasive procedures so he doesn’t want to start there. Honestly I would really like him to do both just to be safe. I‘ve never been tested for H. pylori and more and more people are getting colon cancer at a young age. A friend of mine was diagnosed at 39. I know I shouldn’t think about cancer right away. My symptoms are not “that bad”. My pain is very mild most of the time and at its pick still doesn’t keep me from working etc. Was your pain also changing side ? Mine is sometimes in the middle sometimes on the side.

Yes, my pain moves around a bit. More high/low than left/right, but I have sometimes had pain under my ribs to the left. I always assume that if it moves around that is more of an indication of it having a psychological cause rather than a physical one. Surely if an organ was diseased or faulty, the pain would be in the same place?

Anyway, good luck with your investigation. I wish I could have avoided the endoscopy, but I suppose at least it gave a pretty emphatic result, ie not cancer, etc.