Geez, I have a mild hernia and needed a diagnosis. It was difficult to get in to my regular doctor it being the holiday week and all.

The ER agreed I have a mild hernia but since I was already there, I asked for a CT scan.
It revealed some sort of mass on my left kidney and a right lung nodule so now I am totally freaked out.

Obviously all of us are want to cling to whatever we read in the literature that works in our favor regarding these things so that's what I am doing.
I have had some history of neural fibromas taken off some of my skin in the past, and have been told all my life I have lung scarring from a severe case of pneumonia as a child as seen on x-rays.
I also have a history of weird polyps in my nasal cavities a few years back, the worst that doctor had ever seen after he removed them. I was completely blocked.

I see a urologist on Monday to begin the process of diagnosis for the kidney thing as a start.

Great, just great, the Big C scare we all dread.

And so it goes. And yeah, I have to admit I am quite shook up. The wife is a basket case.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lbj,

Sorry to hear this. Praying for you LBJ.

Good luck I hope everything works out in the next tests.

Arg pirates, one heck of way to bring in the new year.

You know, by rights, I shouldn't even know about these things as a CT scan was not called for in this instance. Typically, you get a hernia, it gets diagnosed, you get surgery.

However, something told me to ask for the CT scan, and the ER doctor agreed to my request.

Otherwise, I would be sitting here waiting for my surgery happy as a clam and not knowing about all these other things that might be wrong.

But now I have a sense of dread.

And you are correct, I have no official diagnosis at this point.

It is noted in the medical literature that if one has a history of neural fibromas, which are benign, they have been seen in kidneys.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigma Sig:
It ain't C til they say it's C.

This.

Still sending prayers your way, lbj.

But wait, there is more.

The mind can play tricks on oneself, and mine is.
Obviously, there is pain from the mild hernia.
But ever since the CT scan, I can sometimes feel pain in my kidney and my left lung began to hurt.

Then I read the ER sheets they gave me, and it's my right lung, not my left.

Now I am waiting for my mind to play tricks again and my right lung to begin hurting.

The mind is a funny thing.

Sorry to hear this. But as the others have said, no need to assume the worse until you know more. For now, I hope your surgery is completely smooth and the diagnosis is benign.

I'm sorry to hear this, Boss! Take care of yourself and prayers sent! Keep us posted.

damn.

I hope it turns out to be something else, anything else.

Well crap, this my own doing.
If I hadn't specifically requested the CT scan, I wouldn't know about any of this.

Someone asked me recently that if I had one wish, what would it be.
I said that I wanted to live long enough to take care of all my family members until they didn't need my care anymore.

Geez, I might have gotten my wish.
I just didn't think it might come so soon.

I wish you the best of luck.

A CT Scan of me showed I had a mass on my adrenal gland that turned out to be nothing.

A CT scan that shows something unexpected can be a blessing though you may not feel that way now. If it turns out to be something more serious, doing early treatment can be a huge life saver.

I get yearly CT scans now and one is coming up soon. No doubt that does put me on pins and needs until I hear what my Oncologist has to say.

A blood test shows kidney function is excellent and above average for my age.

White cell count high normal, but could be because of my inflamed excema skin condition.

Oh you are going to have more tests and probably going to need to go see to some specialists.

Hang in there though I know it is not easy, especially right after you get the news that something was found.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
Arg pirates, one heck of way to bring in the new year.

You know, by rights, I shouldn't even know about these things as a CT scan was not called for in this instance. Typically, you get a hernia, it gets diagnosed, you get surgery.

However, something told me to ask for the CT scan, and the ER doctor agreed to my request.

Otherwise, I would be sitting here waiting for my surgery happy as a clam and not knowing about all these other things that might be wrong.

But now I have a sense of dread.

I had a congenital defect in my "belly button" area that led to a baseball-sized hernia in my early 40s, in 2009.

It was time to have it repaired, so I went to the doc who wanted a CT scan first. He came back a few days later with "we're not fixing your hernia right now. You have cancer."

I am now almost 7 years from that initial diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Had two heavy rounds of chemo (remission, relapse, remission again) and years of maintenance chemo. I've been in remission now for nearly 4 years.

If I can offer support in any way, let me know. Looking back, I am fortunate to have had the hernia, as odd as that sounds. The cancer symptoms were not obvious and it may have progressed too far otherwise.

Hoping for something insignificant. The not knowing is always agonizing and the docs don't exactly rush to tell you anything, good or bad.

Prayers for the best possible outcome.

Lung nodules are actually quite common, and are usually nothing to worry about.

I learned this earlier this year when they found a nodule on my right lung. It was indeed benign, but the not knowing had me a bit freaked out of course.

Hope everything turns out to be nothing.

Sending good thoughts your way lbj.

Pretty similar to my cancer story, went in for one thing came out with a cancer diagnosis.