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Short rant
Posted: Jan 2, 2012
For the last week I've been suffering right upper quadrant pain, had my gallbladder and appendix out ten years ago. I finally gave in and went to our local Urgent Care Center and after three hours, a RUQ ultrasound, bloodwork and UA, they told me they couldn't figure it out and sent me home with a rx for hydrocodone and instructions to see my PMD the next day and get a referral to GI.
It turned out my doc was on vacation all week, and I coudln't function on hydrocodone so I called the on-call and got a new script for tramadol, which barely touched the pain. Finally by Friday the pain was bad enough I went to the ER.
First thing, I get scolded by the nurse for not following up with GI. Scolded! Every one of the nurses and techs treated me like a little kid with a tummyache. When they finally came and told me I was being released and to take Maalox I got angry. Nobody tried to tell me if they'd figured out what the pain might be from, and I knew it wasn't heartburn! The PA reluctantly said, "well, if you want to talk to the attending . . " Darn tootin' I wanted to talk to the attending! Otherwise I wouldn't have even seen him!
He came in and rather condescendingly offered a CAT scan for diverticulitis, but did not think it probably was (and I agreed that that wasn't the case). I felt he was trying to placate me by offering me the CAT scan. It wasn't until then that he, just in passing, suggested duodenitis. Everything fell into place, all the symptoms.
But why, oh why couldn't anybody have said that to me? When the attending said it, it was more as if he was thinking out loud, not trying to explain something to me. Do I not have a brain? I'm sure they saw me as uncooperative and crabby, but they all expected me to just take their advice, do what they said without asking for a reason or a diagnosis!
As it turns out, the earliest urgent appointment I can get with GI is two weeks away, but at least knowing what the pain is and WHY it is, makes it handleable. And his advice to take Maalox every two hours now makes sense to me, and it does help. I'd rather get seen sooner, but at least now I know what it might be. Of course I know it's a provisional diagnosis short of an EGD, but inside me I can feel that it's correct. But why did it have to take so long for someone to explain it to me?
End rant.
;
RUQ Pain - Darby
[ In Reply To ..]I hear ya loud and clear! I have been through almost the exact same thing. Had my GB out in 1995, still had pain and had a sphincterotomy (Oddi) in 1997, which helped some, but the pain never really went away and has gotten worse and worse over the years. I recently went to a GI specialist again and was told "IBS," which I've been told countless times over the years, but I don't believe it. I've tried all the meds that they prescribe for IBS, Bentyl, Levsin, Donnatol, Elavil, etc., and none of them help at all. So I insisted on tests to find out for sure and had a CAT scan, EGD, gastric emptying study, which were all nondiagnostic, but did show a hiatal hernia, superficial gastritis, and a lung mass (which they told me had been seen on a CAT scan that I had performed in 2009 for the same abdominal pain, but no one had told me about the lung mass in 2009 or ever, and now in 2011 it is larger than it was in 2009). I also had an MRCP just last Thursday and am waiting on the results of that. I think the pain is most likely from scar tissue -- adhesions around the sphincter of Oddi, but they'll probably tell me the MRCP didn't show anything and that it's just IBS. I also recently underwent a PET scan of my lungs to further delineate the lung mass. I was a wreck about that, but fortunately the PET scan showed "no uptake" and they said it was "stable" and probably a "granuloma," but now I have to be scanned every few months to follow it. I've had enough radiation from all these scans that I probably will end up with cancer. When I went to the GI's office a couple weeks ago for followup, the physician assistant saw me first and after asking me some routine questions mentioned that the abdominal CAT scan showed "fatty infiltration" in the liver. I guess the GI doctor didn't feel it wasn't important enough to mention, and if the PA hadn't told me, I still wouldn't know about that. It is so frustrating being treated like just cattle. I realize that these doctors are busy, but I don't think it would kill them to take a little time to explain things. I'm not saying they are all like that because once in a while I've been lucky and have gotten one that does talk to me like I'm a human being. It just doesn't happen often enough. Thanks for listening to my rant!
Yes, misery loves company - NYMT
[ In Reply To ..]We can be miserable together :)
It hadn't occurred to me that mine might not be duodenitis. I hope it is. At least it can be treated. "IBS" is such a nebulous "diagnosis" it's come to mean pretty much "you're too emotional. Get over it." Doesn't it sometime feel like you're opening Pandora's box, just trying to get a diagnosis? Lung nodules, fatty liver, both of which they found on me too. What a thrill ride!
Pandora's Box - Darby
[ In Reply To ..]You are too funny! It never occurred to me that mine could be duodenitis. How is that treated? Yes, I hate the way they throw "IBS" at you as a way of not having to deal with you as a real person with real pain. If IBS is a real diagnosis and is such a common problem, then why don't they come up with something that actually treats it? I guess it's because we're all just a bunch of hysterical women and it's all in our heads, right? WRONG!
Short rant - Vera
[ In Reply To ..]I had something like that years ago. Mine turned out to be duodenitis by EGD test. The pain was awful. Doc gave me medicine and the pain quit. I cannot remember what he gave me, but in the years past I have taken Nexium which has worked great for me. In the meantime, I had my GB out which was full of stones. Could it be that you had a stone that has lodged in your GI tract and is now showing its ugly head. I also have left-sided diverticulosis which flares from time to time. I stayed away from chocolate, coffee and spicy foods when I had that awful flare years ago. Eating something cold made it feel better so I kept Maalox in the fridge. It felt like a constant burning pain but with help of medicine it passed. Good luck. I think many institutions add too many tests to get the $$$$$. Maalox did help me and the Nexium. I had no problems with taking Nexium, but without insurance it is so expensive. I hope you get to feeling better.
Short rant - Vera
[ In Reply To ..]I forgot to mention that I had gastritis with the duodenitis. Nexium cured my problems though.
RUQ - Darby
[ In Reply To ..]I'm glad Nexium was helpful for you, Vera, but I have taken Nexium and now take Protonix which does help with heartburn, but not the RUQ pain and extremely painful gas bubbles that torture me from the inside for hours and hours that I have been suffering from for about 20 years. I don't know what awful deed I have done in my life to deserve this torture. I am still waiting to find out the results of the MRCP that I had last week. I called the doctor's office yesterday and they said they will have the doctor call me. I'm sure he's busy, but it would be nice to know if it's something fixable or not. I'll update when I get the results. Thanks for listening to my ongoing rant!
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