It is not all in your head
Ok this is serious stuff.
Back in 2011 I had to get my gall bladder removed. The Doctor wanted to get a CT Scan before hand to see if there was anything else that was wrong with my abdomen. He found stones in my gall bladder and some spots in my Omentum that seamed at the time something "normal". (I guess a lot of people get them) This is possibly where it all should have been biopsied.
In 2017 I went in to the doctor to try and get help with pains that I have had for the last 10 years on my left ovary. The pains were getting worse and debilitating when they occurred. He ordered a CT scan and they saw the same spots on my Omentum. This time they had grown a little bit. There was a small cyst on my left ovary and the radiologist said it was all probably benign because it was common in women to have them. Here again these things should have been biopsied. My family Doctor agreed with me that I could use a hysterectomy, so he asked me if I had a OB/GYN doctor that I liked. I had seen one in the past that helped with IUD's so I decided to go see him. This visit with the OB/GYN made me feel humiliated for asking to have my uterus taken out. He told me that he wanted me to try the IUD again or take some shots to stop my periods. He even suggested something to get me in to Menopause early. I have a risk of getting blood clots, and he told me I could die from a blood clot just because I wanted my uterus out. (This is where I should have demanded that he look closer at my CT scans and biopsy what was found, or found a new Doctor). I trusted his opinion for all the wrong reasons. I was always taught to respect my elders and I have always been someone who doesn't like to be confrontational. So I let it go and figured I would just keep dealing with the pain.
On March 2nd 2018, I was sent in for another CT scan and Ultrasound by my family doctors office for more help to find where my pains might have been coming from. This time they found the same cyst on my left ovary and now a small fibroid tumor in my Uterus. The Cyst had some calcifications on it and there was not much else noted in the CT Scan. The spots on my omentum were not even mentioned in this new CT scan. I found that very odd and alarming that my CT scans were not being read completely. My family doctors nurse called me to tell me that the radiologist said everything looked benign and I could just keep going on ignoring the pain or see a OB/GYN to see about getting more help. (That still hurts, you can't ignore debilitating pain)
March 16th I saw a new doctor that my family doctor had found. He was very nice and also thought my CT scan looked normal but gave me... yes me the option to say if I wanted to get my hysterectomy done. He said if I was his sister or mother he would recommend getting it done to be out of the pain. What a life changing moment for me. I felt like I had the control of what I wanted done to be free from the pain. We scheduled it and didn't think to much more about it. I was just excited to get it over with and move on.
April 3rd DAY OF SURGERY...
The doctor opened me up and wow was he surprised. There were those SPOTS IN MY OMENTUM that should have been looked out and removed so long ago. They looked really bad. He sent them off to pathology as quick as he could. They came back as cancer. He proceeded to do my Hysterectomy and found more cancer. At that time he called in a General Surgeon to assist because he knew his skills were not enough to get it all out. They consulted with a Oncologist that specializes in cancers in the female organs. She let them know to look around in my other organs to see if they were ok. The doctors were pulling my small intestines through their fingers to find any abnormal spots and they found pea size cancer nodules. They were able to remove two of them along with 7 inches of my small intestine. The surgeon and my OB/GYN doctor both had to work hard to look at everything. This surgery took 3 hours for them to complete. It seems short to me for as much as they had to do. I feel they did an amazing job and I am grateful they worked so hard to get it all out.
When I was waking up from surgery I was so happy to see my husband. I noticed he was a little nervous and he had every right to be. I asked him what they found. He told me they found cancer in the Omentum and other areas. I told him I wasn't surprised. I had told the Doctors/Surgeons I wasn't surprised either. They asked why, and I told him because of the symptoms I had with my pains. I deep down inside knew something was wrong, no matter what the doctors had said.
So when you have a pain that is not going away and they find anything in a CT Scan, DON'T let them just assume it is a normal cyst or fibroid tumor. It is very irritating looking back at what was missed and what could have been done to prevent what I am going through now. I hope that what I write will help just even one person.
It really wasn't all in my head. It was CANCER growing in my body.