Hiya!
Another update. The pain in my stomach was bad the night before, so yesterday I went into the emergency room at my hospital. After a 5 hour wait (!) they put in an IV to administer pain and anti-nausea meds, as well as fluids. Here's the funny part; I rated my pain (on a scale of 1-10) when I entered at a 6-7, but just minutes after the pain med push in the IV, it went up even higher (maybe to an 8), and stayed that way for a good 40 minutes. During that time they did bloodwork, chest x-ray and ultrasound.
Good news - the bloodwork was all normal and the chest x-ray is okay. The ultrasound did show some fat in my liver, which can cause stretching and expansion, and can account for the pain. A CT scan would be more accurate and give more info, but the doc didn't want to do that unless necessary because I've had so many of those in the last couple of years. In his words, he didn't want me to 'light up like a Christmas tree'. He also though it was possible I had a stomach issue (an ulcer perhaps) and wants me to follow up with my primary care and a gastrointestinal specialist.
So I'm seeing my PCP on Friday (when my next INR was already scheduled), and hopefully he'll have a referral for the specialist before then (since he can access my hospital records right now - he's in that network). The ER doc gave me scripts for pain (percecet) and for acid control (xanax).
My PCP in Tucson had long ago noted (as a result of an earlier scan) that my liver was about 1 cm. larger than normal, but I have no idea if this scan showed the same or a different result - I'll ask on Friday. So for now it's basically reduce acidic foods and follow-up with the GI specialist. What a pain, but at least I got a good night's sleep last night.
Here's the odd connection (to me, at least). Several times before last spring, I attempted to start an exercise program using my stationary recumbent bike, but each time I developed tenderness in that region and ultimately stopped. Then I started swimming in May, and added in the bike but at a lower level. As the months passed I added more of the bike to even out the two forms of exercise. And now the tenderness is back, with some added sharper/longer pains periodically. It makes me wonder if the biking motion was resulting in additional pressure on that somewhat enlarged organ (my liver) and if that was irritating it. Or even if the bit of extra muscle I'd been developing was adding pressure to that area. I really have no idea, but it will be interesting to follow up with the GI guy and see.
Since I had my gall bladder removed in 1990, there could be another connection. Stomach fluids are of course acidic, to break down food, and gall bladder bile is caustic - to counteract the acidic stomach fluid. Without the gall bladder, stomach acid can be a bigger problem. I don't have a history of 'heart burn' from stomach acid (except during the time leading up my gall bladder being removed), but if I've developed an ulcer, then that could be more of an issue now. Of course the previous history of a bunch of chemo can have caused a lot of things, so that's one possibility. If so the Xanax should help, so I'll be watching that. Again, looking forward to the GI visit to resolve this!
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