Question:
My symptoms:

- Feeling of heaviness in left abdomen
- Dull ache in upper left abdomen, sometimes migrates
- Dull ache in left groin and left leg
- Occasional sharp pain in mid left abdomen
- Occasional shooting sharp pain in neck
- Occasional tightness in neck
- Irregular bowel movements, with occasional looser stool
- Sometimes pain relieved with passing gas, other times not
- Some strange tingling emanating from left abdomen

Help!


Answer:
As a general note, any change in bowel habit for any one of middle-age and beyond which lasts for more than ten days should be reason enough to visit a Physician. It may be a functional condition but it may also be the first sign of cancer.

Tumors of the colon and rectum are best treated by complete surgical removal. Without detection and treatment this cancer will terminate fatally.

Any persistent change in bowel habits, particularly a narrowing of the stools, discomfort not relieved by bowel movement, rectal bleeding, unexplained anemia, pain or difficultyin defecation, and constipation followed by diarrhea should alert one to the possibility of cancer. Intestinal obstruction, excess gas, weight loss, and pain characterizes the advanced stage of the disease.

Death from these tumors can be reduced by regular check-ups for those over forty. Upon arrival to the ER or your Doctor's Office, your Physician may like to perform a rectal (proctoscopic) examination which can uncover up to two thirds of these lesions at an early and treatable stage.

Hope this answers your question.

REFERENCES

1. Levin MD, D.L. and Schneiderman PhD, M.A. (Cancer Researchist). Cancer Of The Colon and Rectum. (Unknown Publishing Date). Funk & Wagnall's Family Medical Guide. Toronto, Canada. (Eds.) Sigmund Stephen Miller. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited. pp. 140, 570 and 571.

2. Ruane DO, J.J. and Rossi MD, T.A. When Groin Pain Is More Than 'Just a Strain': Navigating a Broad Differential. "THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE." VOL 26. NO. 4. April 1998.
The Prison Hospital

Prisoner: Look here, doctor! You've already removed my spleen, tonsils, adenoids, and one of my kidneys. I only came to see if you could get me out of this place!

Doctor: I am, bit by bit.





Answer:
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR DESCRIBING MY SYMPTOMS WHAT TESTS HAVE YOU HAD ? TRY BENYDRL IT SOUNDS WEIRD BUT WORKS FOR ME............


Answer:
I've recently had the following tests:

- Abdominal/Pelvic CT scan (normal)
- Blood test (to check for anemia and allergies -- normal)
- Colonoscopy (normal)

Today I'm getting an upper GI endoscopy.

Since getting completely freaked out by the response on this board (thanks a lot -- I'm never wasting my time asking questions on a medical bulletin board again -- and what does "high incidence of stomach cancer" mean, anyway? and why talk about stomach cancer in the subject line but then start discussing colon cancer in the text? who are you people?), my symptoms have subsided. I do have an occasional and very mild ache on the left side of my abdomen, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that what I'm feeling is not abdominal, but muscular (I might have pulled a muscle). The GI specialist I'm seeing thinks I probably have a mild form of IBS, but being the good doctor he is wants to rule everything out (since IBS can only be diagnosed after you've excluded other diseases).


Answer:
well let me know if they find anything i go for a 2nd egd tommorow ....


Answer:
The results from my endoscopy were normal. My GI doc ran a couple of minor biopsies (for some bacterial stuff), but he's pretty convinced it's either mild IBS or a muscular thing. He recommended I get a complete physical.

Best of luck relieving your ailments.

My advice to you and everyone on these bulletin boards is to stay off. It's good advice to visit your doctor and insist on tests. It's bad advice when people tell you might have cancer when they don't know what the hell they're talking about. I regret ever having gotten on this message board.


Answer:
I am very angry that I received this reply. A recommendation that I get checked out is good. Being told that my symptoms "may be related to the high incidence of stomach cancer" is bad. I should have known better than to come on a message board when I was worrying, but your reply was astoundingly ill-advised. I would suggest that you temper your online diagnoses and give moderated advice in the future.


Answer:
Hello Chart,
I understand your frustration, but reading over Bk Daniels post and reply to the original message did not sound like he was giving you or anyone else readin the thread a diagnosis or treatment.

"which lasts for more than ten days should be reason enough to visit a Physician. It may be a functional condition but it may also be the first sign of cancer."

Honestly, I see nothing wrong with the reply given. As always, giving references to articles or other information as well as NOT a diagnosis, but a recommendation for further evaluation by seeing a physician is very good advice.

I'm not sure why you say "I would suggest that you temper your online diagnoses" when no diagnosis was given. Again, reading voer the post, I see that no diagnosis was given, only recommendations for further testing to really se what's going on with you.

I do apologize thought for your experience and will discuss replies to posts on this board.

Answer:
Thanks for your reply. I perhaps misstated when I used the word "diagnoses." I was frustrated by the subject line -- related to a high incidence of stomach cancer -- which in the text was followed up not by a discussion of stomach cancer, but colorectal cancer. I understand that there are a number of caveats given to posters about these message board not being actual "diagnoses." But I am a little upset that, being concerned enough to write in about my symptoms, I get an alarming response. If I can rephrase, then I would ask that responders such as bkdaniels temper their online suggestions as to possible reasons for symptoms. Rather than say "might be related to the high incidence of stomach cancer," it would have been more beneficial to begin with "it would be beneficial to see your doctor and ask about an endoscopy to rule out serious diseases, such as stomach cancer." perhaps that's the same information, but the tone would be much less alarming.

Again, I regret my decision to post in the first place -- but I think folks like bkdaniels, who is probably pretty circumspect in his advice, needed to be more sensitive in the first instance to the incredibly worry posters might have when they post on a health message board. I might have been less upset if the advice had been phrased as I suggested.


Answer:
Sorry Chart. Did not mean to scare you.The correct interpretation of acute abdominal pain is one of the most challenging demands made of any Physician. Since proper therapy often requires urgent action, the luxury of the leisurely approach suitable for the study of other conditions is frequently denied.Few other clinical situations demand greater experience and judgment, because the most catastrophic of events may be forecast by the most subtle symptom or sign. Nowhere in medicine is a meticulously executed detailed history and physical examination of greater importanceREFERRED PAIN IN ABDOMINAL DISEASES Pain referred to the abdomen from the thorax, spine, or genitalia may prove a vexing problem in differential diagnosis, because disease of the upper part of the abdominal cavity such as acute cholecystis, perforated ulcer, or subphrenic abscesses are frequently associated with intrathoracic complications. A most important, yet often forgotten, dictum is that the possibilty of intrathoracic disease must be concidered in every patient with abdominal pain, especially if the pain is in the upper part of the abdomen.The ultimate decision as to the orgin of abdominal pain may require deliberate and planned observation over a period of several hours, during which time repeated questioning and examination will provide the proper explanation. Pain referred to the abdomen from the testicles or seminal vesicles is generally accentuated by the slightest pressure on either of the organs, because the abdominal discomfort is of dull aching character and is poorly localized.METABOLIC ABDOMINAL CRISES Pain of metabolic origin may simulate almost any other type of intraabdominal disease. Here, several mechanisms may be at work.The pain of porphyria and of lead colic usually is difficult to distinguish from that of intestinal obstruction, because severe hyperperistalsis is a prominate feature of both. The pain in uremia or diabetes is nonspecfic, and the pain and tenderness frequently shift in location and intensity.Diabetic acidosis may be precipitated by acute appendicitis or intestinal obstruction, so that if prompt resolution of the abdominal pain does not result from correction of the metabolic abnormalities, an underlying organic problem should be expected. Black widow spider bites produce intense pain and rigidity of the abdominal muscles and of the back, an area infrequently involved in disease of intraabdominal orgin.APPROACH TO THE PATIENT WITH ABDOMINAL PAIN There are few abdominal conditions which require such urgent operative intervention that an orderly approach need be abandoned, no matter how ill the patient. Only those patients with exsanguinating hemmorrhage must be rushed to the operating room, but in such instances only a few minutes are required to assess the critical nature of the problem.

Under these circumstances, all obstacles must be swept aside, adequate access for intravenous fluid replacement obtained, and the operation begun. Many patients of this type have died in the radiology department or the emergency room while awaiting such unecessary examinations as electrogardiograms or films of the abdominen.Laboratory examinations may be of enormous value in the assessment of the patient with abdominal pain, yet with but a few exceptions they rarely establish a diagnosis. Despite lack of a clear anatomic diagnosis it may be abundantly clear to an experienced and thoughtful physician and surgeon on clinical grounds alone that operation is indicated.Hope this answers your question!REFERENCE 1. Silen, W. Abdominal Pain. 1977. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 8th ed. vols. 1. New York, NY. (Eds.) George W. Thorn, et al. McGraw-Hill Book Company. pp. 33-37.
The Prison Hospital

Prisoner: Look here, doctor! You've already removed my spleen, tonsils, adenoids, and one of my kidneys. I only came to see if you could get me out of this place!

Doctor: I am, bit by bit.





Answer:
With the exception of the pain and/or tightnessin your neck, your symptoms do sound very much like they could be related to IBS (or diverticulitis/diverticulosis). Many times, colonoscopy reports will come back with the physician telling you they are normal because these are two very common conditions. Normal to many health care providers means no cancer yet the other findings are oftentimes left unmentioned. You really should get your reports so you can read for yourself. If, in fact, you have one or more of these conditions, a change in your diet will be a welcome relief. How did your Gastroscopy turn out? I would suspect that it was normal since your complaints are mainly in the abdomen vs the stomach area. Hope you find some relief soon!