gall bladder attack or virus?

jane65

Hi ladies,
I'd love to get some input or ideas about this:
Yesterday morning I awoke with horrible belly pains from the breastbone down to the pelvis, and around to the back on both sides.
I began vomiting and couldn't stop until I took a Zofran.

I broke out in a cold sweat as well, and the pain was so bad I was moaning constantly.
I took an Advil which did help with the pain. We were sure that I was on the way to the ER.

I called my oncologist's office and spoke with the head oncology nurse, who spoke to the doctor. He said it sounded like a virus, and not related to my cancer, since my July scan was clear. The nurse questioned if it could be a gall bladder or kidney stone attack.
He said I should call my Internist and be seen.

Today I have a little headache and I'm still washed out, yesterday I was drowsy and tired all day.
I have no other symptoms which hopefully means it was a virus. I also have 2 hernias which concerned me whether one of them was in trouble.

I'm seeing my internist on Thursday, the only day he's in the office near me to see what he can diagnose.

I'd appreciate it if you have any ideas, or experience with these symptoms.

I wish all of you a pleasant day and good health! There's so much illness on the forum at this time, we just have to deal with things one day at a time.

Jane

mopar

I DON'T KNOW
Wish I could offer some suggestions, Jane. But I'm sure glad to hear you're seeing the doctor within a couple of days. Hernias can cause problems, but it could be a variety of things. I would not, however, hesitate to go to the emergency room if it happens again. Vomiting with these types of symptoms sends up a red flag to me.

Please let us know what you find out. I sure hope you feel better.

(((HUGS)))
Monika

jane65

mopar said:

I DON'T KNOW
Wish I could offer some suggestions, Jane. But I'm sure glad to hear you're seeing the doctor within a couple of days. Hernias can cause problems, but it could be a variety of things. I would not, however, hesitate to go to the emergency room if it happens again. Vomiting with these types of symptoms sends up a red flag to me.

Please let us know what you find out. I sure hope you feel better.

(((HUGS)))
Monika

Thanks Monika,
This whole thing is scary to me, even though I feel better today.
I guess it's just denial, if I have OVCA that's enough and I didn't want to face another possible problem. Foolish, I know but I'm getting checked out on Thurs.
Jane

BonnieR

Prayers
Hi Jane, like monica no advice here and praying it was just a virus. Let us know what your Dr says. Hugs ♥ Prayers Bonnie

jane65

BonnieR said:

Prayers
Hi Jane, like monica no advice here and praying it was just a virus. Let us know what your Dr says. Hugs ♥ Prayers Bonnie

Bonnie
Thanks Bonnie,
You're one of our true cheerleaders, always there for support.

I'm feeling better today and will see my internist tomorrow, I'll let the ladies know what he has to say.
I believe that they do an ultrasound on the gall bladder, I hope he has the machine in his office.

Hugs, and prayers back to you, and all our warriors!
Jane

bluerose

The plot thickens
Hi Jane. So sorry to hear that you had such a scarey 'attack'. You know my story and I don't know at this point if my symptoms are cancer or not but when I read your post it hit home to me due to my situation. Not only that but I heard of the exact same situation from other person.

Now you have alot going on that might explain your severe pains but I had an attack of what they thought was a kidney stone way back in November of last year. I was routed to a Urologist who said he saw the stone in my bladder but seemed a little unsure in his tone, that stuck with me for some reason - the tone of uncertainty. Anywho I did go in by ambulance when I had the attack - excrutiating pain where you describe and in my back and around the sides - I was literally banging on the wall in the ER from pain. Anywho they did a CT and said that they saw the stone and it was almost in the bladder on it's way and all of a sudden the pain totally stopped - they said because it fell into the bladder where there would be no pain - it's the stones route down the tube that causes pain. Anywho at that time I knew nothing about a cyst and node on my ovary too.

Flash forward to June of this year and apparently the stone hadnt passed so they went in to get it, put me out and everything, said they saw it on the CT I had just before the surgery but when they went in to retrieve it THERE WAS NO STONE. Now it's hard to believe that after months of not passing it it would drop out without me knowing it one day after the CT? I doubt it. Question is: was it a stone at all or something else?

When the radiologist read my CT before surgery for the stone it was then that he noticed the cyst and node and compared it with that Nov scan I had for the stone in the ER and THE CYST AND NODE WERE THERE THEN but the radiologist in the ER missed it.

My point is that I am wondering if the severe pain was something to do with the cyst or node or even the mystery tissue they also found in the uterus too?

After all of this recently I heard of another woman who had my exact same experience. Thought it was a kidney stone, saw specialists, time was wasted and by them was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian.

I would relay all of your symptoms to the specialist indeed but man if you get attacks that are that bad you should have gone to the ER Jane. Not only could you be helped there but they could see what it is that is causing it on CT's perhaps that might not be seen later when things quiet down.

Just thought I would share my experience and that of another woman too for your information. You may well have some totally different reason for your attack. Take care of you. Blessings, Bluerose

jane65

bluerose said:

The plot thickens
Hi Jane. So sorry to hear that you had such a scarey 'attack'. You know my story and I don't know at this point if my symptoms are cancer or not but when I read your post it hit home to me due to my situation. Not only that but I heard of the exact same situation from other person.

Now you have alot going on that might explain your severe pains but I had an attack of what they thought was a kidney stone way back in November of last year. I was routed to a Urologist who said he saw the stone in my bladder but seemed a little unsure in his tone, that stuck with me for some reason - the tone of uncertainty. Anywho I did go in by ambulance when I had the attack - excrutiating pain where you describe and in my back and around the sides - I was literally banging on the wall in the ER from pain. Anywho they did a CT and said that they saw the stone and it was almost in the bladder on it's way and all of a sudden the pain totally stopped - they said because it fell into the bladder where there would be no pain - it's the stones route down the tube that causes pain. Anywho at that time I knew nothing about a cyst and node on my ovary too.

Flash forward to June of this year and apparently the stone hadnt passed so they went in to get it, put me out and everything, said they saw it on the CT I had just before the surgery but when they went in to retrieve it THERE WAS NO STONE. Now it's hard to believe that after months of not passing it it would drop out without me knowing it one day after the CT? I doubt it. Question is: was it a stone at all or something else?

When the radiologist read my CT before surgery for the stone it was then that he noticed the cyst and node and compared it with that Nov scan I had for the stone in the ER and THE CYST AND NODE WERE THERE THEN but the radiologist in the ER missed it.

My point is that I am wondering if the severe pain was something to do with the cyst or node or even the mystery tissue they also found in the uterus too?

After all of this recently I heard of another woman who had my exact same experience. Thought it was a kidney stone, saw specialists, time was wasted and by them was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian.

I would relay all of your symptoms to the specialist indeed but man if you get attacks that are that bad you should have gone to the ER Jane. Not only could you be helped there but they could see what it is that is causing it on CT's perhaps that might not be seen later when things quiet down.

Just thought I would share my experience and that of another woman too for your information. You may well have some totally different reason for your attack. Take care of you. Blessings, Bluerose

bluerose
My dear, when this is over and you're healthy again, you really must write a book about your misadventures.

I hate seeing that someone trained to look for abnormalities, missed seeing something, that now affects a life.

My pain, sweats and n/v had started at 6AM, we called the oncologist at 8AM, and the Internist's office at 10AM. By then, the pain, sweats and and n/v had completely ended, 4 hours of agony over. My oncologist had said that if I was going to the ER, I should let him know and he'd alert his associate who was on call at the hospital.

Since the attack was over, I didn't feel that it was urgent for me to go to the hospital. I'd really like to avoid that as much as I can.

Feel good, by the way what's your situation now?
Jane

bluerose

jane65 said:

bluerose
My dear, when this is over and you're healthy again, you really must write a book about your misadventures.

I hate seeing that someone trained to look for abnormalities, missed seeing something, that now affects a life.

My pain, sweats and n/v had started at 6AM, we called the oncologist at 8AM, and the Internist's office at 10AM. By then, the pain, sweats and and n/v had completely ended, 4 hours of agony over. My oncologist had said that if I was going to the ER, I should let him know and he'd alert his associate who was on call at the hospital.

Since the attack was over, I didn't feel that it was urgent for me to go to the hospital. I'd really like to avoid that as much as I can.

Feel good, by the way what's your situation now?
Jane

Hey Jane
Oh Jane, how much time do you have? lol. It would take hours to recount all I have been through in trying to get this cyst/node biopsied but just now I had a really confusing call from the gyno area of the hospital.

Get this, it just gets more ridiculous. I was turned away from gyno/onc even though I had a referral and was told by a reputable gyno in the city to fight to see one. Routed back to reg gyno just the end of last week. So last night I get a call from my family doc saying that the gyno/onc referral was passed along to another gyn who wasnt an onc. Oh who cares just get this thing out already was my thought. So last night they say that appt is Nov 13th. So this morning I get another call but this time from the Gyno/Onc who flung me back over to the reg Gyno and they gave me an appt. for Sept 22. WHAT???????????I asked the girl who called if it's because of the results of the last pelvic ultrasound I had on Friday (which I begged them to do earlier than 2 months from now and they did by a fluke of nature). She said it wasnt but I am having a hard time believing that.

I said well then why does he want to see me all of a sudden now? She said 'well because of all the calls you have made here' LOL LOL, I said 'let me correct you, I have not many that many calls there and the ones I have made are to check on situations that aren't been followed up in a timely manner'. Sheeesh, smart alec yet. IT WILL BE A YEAR SINCE THEY SAW THIS THING, and no biopsy yet. Um, I was ticked.

Anywho I calmed down and said that if I am coming in for just a pep talk on IT'S PROBABLY BENIGN forget it but I used the call to also ask her to find the CT from last November that showed this thing first, the one they missed. Grrrrr. I told her that I was almost positive this gyno/onc wasn't told about it so he presumes I'm nuts as it was only June 1st it was found. NO IT ISN'T. AND IT GREW FROM NOVEMBER TO JUNE.

Somebody shoot me.

So unless this girl doesn't relay the info at last a gyno/onc will see the whole picture, well that only took 3 months. Sigh.

Writing a book has been suggested to me from all sorts of areas but that's not going to happen because I'M TOO POOPED AFTER EXPENDING ALL MY ENERGY ADVOCATING FOR MYSELF. Seriously, shoot me.

Well bottomline is that I got my gyno/onc I wanted but whether he will take me for the long haul don't know. You would think that with all my treatments with the bone marrow transplant, total body radiation, chemo from hell, blah blah blah, the showing up of this cyst and node would be taken a tad more seriously. But, they are swamped and I know that if a 1cm node shows up and another woman comes in with a 5 inch mass they are going to take her first. I get that but what happened to 'get it early'?

Over and out. Bluerose

Unknown

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jane65

unknown said:

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rhobb
Hi, thanks for the information, as it turns out it was not my gallbladder at all. It is my 2 umbilical hernias and I'm having surgery to repair them next month.

bluerose

Lots to explore on your own
Hi Jane,

As you know I am just exploring as to whether my cyst and node are a cancer or not at this point and I have not had ovarian cancer but I have had non hodgkins lymphoma and in this discussion here I have more importantly had a kidney stone attack and a gallbladder attack as well resulting in them taking out my gall bladder years ago.

Both of those attacks are excrutiating and you definitely throw up from gall bladder attacks, didn't for the kidney stone attack but that could just be my system and maybe others would. Bottomline for you though is that you have other things that could cause the symptoms perhaps and the only way to know for sure is to have gone to the ER when you have that invasive a pain resulting in vomiting and all the other symptoms.

Now I know that being in the states you have to pay for your visits, don't know if you have coverage to cover ER visits, but here in Canada our thinking is different as its all covered and so if I have symptoms like that off I go. Not sure if your financial situation is governing when to go to the ER and not but obvious symptoms like vomiting and intense pain like that should be a definite ER visit to me - especially with your history - could even be something worse.

I too have a complex medical history and just actually came back from 7 hours at my ER yesterday. Because my symptoms are so complicated not much of an answer was found for my flu like symptoms but I at least got some clues. If you get those pains again I would personally suggest you get into the ER even though your specialist appt is a day away. Why risk it? If it's your gall bladder it could rupture but not sure if you would then be in constant pain or it would be on and off even then. When I had my gall bladder attack it would be excrutiating and I would throw up but then it would pass and I was fine. Usually eating fatty foods would then trigger it again, but again everyone can experience slightly different or in some cases totally different symptoms. Best to have the experts check it out at the ER. Blessings, Bluerose

nancy591

bluerose said:

Lots to explore on your own
Hi Jane,

As you know I am just exploring as to whether my cyst and node are a cancer or not at this point and I have not had ovarian cancer but I have had non hodgkins lymphoma and in this discussion here I have more importantly had a kidney stone attack and a gallbladder attack as well resulting in them taking out my gall bladder years ago.

Both of those attacks are excrutiating and you definitely throw up from gall bladder attacks, didn't for the kidney stone attack but that could just be my system and maybe others would. Bottomline for you though is that you have other things that could cause the symptoms perhaps and the only way to know for sure is to have gone to the ER when you have that invasive a pain resulting in vomiting and all the other symptoms.

Now I know that being in the states you have to pay for your visits, don't know if you have coverage to cover ER visits, but here in Canada our thinking is different as its all covered and so if I have symptoms like that off I go. Not sure if your financial situation is governing when to go to the ER and not but obvious symptoms like vomiting and intense pain like that should be a definite ER visit to me - especially with your history - could even be something worse.

I too have a complex medical history and just actually came back from 7 hours at my ER yesterday. Because my symptoms are so complicated not much of an answer was found for my flu like symptoms but I at least got some clues. If you get those pains again I would personally suggest you get into the ER even though your specialist appt is a day away. Why risk it? If it's your gall bladder it could rupture but not sure if you would then be in constant pain or it would be on and off even then. When I had my gall bladder attack it would be excrutiating and I would throw up but then it would pass and I was fine. Usually eating fatty foods would then trigger it again, but again everyone can experience slightly different or in some cases totally different symptoms. Best to have the experts check it out at the ER. Blessings, Bluerose

stomach pains
I too have periodic attacks of severe stomach pain that includes vomiting . I average about once a month for the last 5 months. I go to the ER and there is no evidence of an obstruction and my ca 125 is still normal although slightly creeping up went from a 7 to a 9 and now it is a 12. At each event I've had either a sonogram and xray or a cat scan. No obstruction or anything suspicious. I've been trying to figure out a dietary link to no avail. I'm hoping my problems are adhesions. My surgeon is thinking maybe I am having a reoccurence that cannot be seen yet on ct scan.

saundra

nancy591 said:

stomach pains
I too have periodic attacks of severe stomach pain that includes vomiting . I average about once a month for the last 5 months. I go to the ER and there is no evidence of an obstruction and my ca 125 is still normal although slightly creeping up went from a 7 to a 9 and now it is a 12. At each event I've had either a sonogram and xray or a cat scan. No obstruction or anything suspicious. I've been trying to figure out a dietary link to no avail. I'm hoping my problems are adhesions. My surgeon is thinking maybe I am having a reoccurence that cannot be seen yet on ct scan.

Lactose
Have you tried lactose free milk? Saundra

bluerose

jane65 said:

bluerose
My dear, when this is over and you're healthy again, you really must write a book about your misadventures.

I hate seeing that someone trained to look for abnormalities, missed seeing something, that now affects a life.

My pain, sweats and n/v had started at 6AM, we called the oncologist at 8AM, and the Internist's office at 10AM. By then, the pain, sweats and and n/v had completely ended, 4 hours of agony over. My oncologist had said that if I was going to the ER, I should let him know and he'd alert his associate who was on call at the hospital.

Since the attack was over, I didn't feel that it was urgent for me to go to the hospital. I'd really like to avoid that as much as I can.

Feel good, by the way what's your situation now?
Jane

When I am healthy again? Um, it's been 20 years, lol
Unfortunately healthy is only a faint memory with all my after effects of my non hodgkins lymphoma but all this extra stuff I am going through would be nice to be done with.

I had a horrible time in the ER this morning with snotty personnel, really long story but I went in by ambulance for horrible sweating that has been going on for 3 weeks and have been told to check it out and experienced downright verbal abuse at the hospital. Too tired to get into it all but I was treated unfairly by a stressed out worker and now am in the midst of a dispute with the hospital over the treatment by that nurse. It just goes on and on.

We all have our times though so this too shall pass, I hope.

The meeting with the gyno/onc that I worked so hard to get had to be postponed due to whatever this is I have, a flu who knows so I go to see him now on Oct 1st so that's just next week. I have to find others to help me with these new horrific sweats I have now on exertion as the only way I will go back to the ER is horizontal and not breathing. Horrible day in health care for me and I'm sure others as well.

Thanks for asking Jane and hope things are resolving for you. Blessings, Bluerose