Abdominal mass noticed after week of gastritis

Posted by hanhsmrb @hanhsmrb, 2 days ago

Hey there! Im 21 (F) and about 5 months ago I had an episode of severe gastritis (or that’s what we think). I had severe pain in my upper stomach area, absolutely excruciating, and then follows severe nausea and mild vomiting (if anything I was a lot of gagging and sitting by the toilet just throwing up any liquid that was in there). I went to the ER and they said it was irritation and possible inflammation of the stomach lining.

Also side note, I’ve had this many times before resulting in having to go to the ER because of how horrible it was. And time and time again they said it was gastritis or something.
They would give me pain meds to help and anti-acids to help calm it down. The episodes came about a year apart when I was in high school, and there wasn’t anything that I had done that seemed to specifically cause it, it just happened.

After this more recent experience and I left the ER, I spent about a week still in severe pain and discomfort. I was up all night, nausea asf, so tired because I couldn’t sleep and couldn’t keep anything down. During that week, I felt a bump in the right upper quadrant of my abdomen. I could move it and breathe and it would adjust and then I could adjust it again. I called a nurse and was explaining what I felt and she said it could be a hernia but should absolutely get it checked out.

I ended up going to my PCP (which I hate and don’t ever want to see again) and she said that she couldn’t really feel it, had another provider come in and immediately said I need to get this checked out further and get imaging of the area. I’ve had two ultrasounds (one normal and one subcutaneous) and also a CT scan with contrast, and absolutely nothing came up which is so confusing. I’m not crazy and I 100% feel something there.

Sometimes I feel a dull ache or something in that area but nothing too severe since the last gastritis episode. I’ve had multiple other appointments (with my PCP, a gastroenterologist, and a general surgeon just to get another opinion) and I have my PCP saying it could just be a liver edge (which doesn’t make sense at all because it shouldn’t even be that low in the first place or that moveable), the gastroenterologist said he bets it’s a fat mass, and then the general surgeon has no idea what it is.

I’m just stressed and have no idea what to even do. I have normal bowel movements, sometimes more loose and mucusy than normal but I go like 2 times a day or something, so it’s not a blockage. I always check it everyday to see how it feels and it’s still very prominent and deep in my abdomen below my last rib. I’m just concerned and so confused why I can feel something that was absolutely not there and then there’s nothing that comes up on my scans and no one will do anything else about it. 🙁 I’m in school for nursing and just want to get this off my mind but it’s so hard to not think about it.

I have Kaiser insurance and I feel like they’re just so bad with patient care and truly figuring out what’s wrong. I need some sort of advice please.

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gently | @gently | 2 days ago

hanhsmr, have you had a colonoscopy?

hanhsmrb | @hanhsmrb | 2 days ago

In reply to @gently "hanhsmr, have you had a colonoscopy?" + (show)

@gently I haven’t. I highly doubt they would refer me for that considering I’m 21. The last thing they told me was to just wait since my imaging was clear and I’m not having anymore functional problems.

geekygirl9 | @geekygirl9 | 2 days ago

Maybe you should try a CT enterography or MR enterography or an intestinal ultrasound (I've had an abdominal ultrasound before but intestinal ultrasound is more specialized than abdominal ultrasound and not just anyone has the expertise to do intestinal ultrasound properly). They can pick up on some different things that other kinds of imaging aren't designed to show. And if you complain loud enough you absolutely may be able to get a colonoscopy and/or endoscopy. I just had them and I'm 22. Whatever you do, PLEASE, please don't give up until you find an answer! 2 years ago I also noticed a lump in my abdomen, though in a different place than where yours is, that my PCP's nurse practitioner thought might be a hernia. He and I could feel the lump, but several other providers felt my abdomen and couldn't feel a thing. One GI did feel the area and feel something hard but thought it was my SPINE! I had Xrays, abdominal ultrasound, and MRI, that all showed nothing, and so I finally gave up. The lump didn't go away and I developed worsening diarrhea and other symptoms, and so this year I finally went to see another GI. He ordered a CT enterography that showed Crohn's in the area where the lump is, and then I got scoped to finalize the diagnosis and am now on meds to get this safely into remission. I'm blessed to have a type of Crohn's that is more reversible than most; otherwise those 2 years that I spent giving up on finding an answer could have had more consequences. Not trying to worry you or anything, I'm just saying don't be afraid to be aggressive in advocating for yourself and don't let anything discourage you from getting to the bottom of your symptoms. You deserve answers! Keep us posted if you want to. You got this, girl!

nycmusic | @nycmusic | 2 days ago

I had pain in same place with some nausea…was at my osteopath/MD…(.I go 2x monthly for back and neck)…told him about the pain, so he gave me a manual exam and told me to immediately call my PCP and request imaging asap…she went into high gear and put together a team of docs as well as several types of imaging…that DO and my PCP were life-saving ! I had a large aggressive colon cancer, successfully treated by immunotherapy and surgery, and so far am cancer-free. Timing !! My case was presented at national osteopathic conferences to encourage DOs to treat the whole patient, not just their back or neck, etc…hope it helps others… hope you get checked out ASAP ! And feel much much better soon !

hanhsmrb | @hanhsmrb | 1 day ago

In reply to @geekygirl9 "Maybe you should try a CT enterography or MR enterography or an intestinal ultrasound (I've had..." + (show)

@geekygirl9 this is so so helpful! Thank you so much. I have another appointment scheduled with a different PCP so I’m hoping to get some more scan and take about what’s next steps I can take.

hanhsmrb | @hanhsmrb | 1 day ago

In reply to @nycmusic "I had pain in same place with some nausea…was at my osteopath/MD…(.I go 2x monthly for..." + (show)

@nycmusic this is incredible, I’m so glad you got the help you needed. Thank you so much for you support and sharing your experience! I want to figure this out and not stop trying!