Major meltdown over husband--fearing the worst

[SighNoMore]

Thank you Beth! He said that he has had loose stools for quite some time :/, but some were normal. Hopefully just IBS or stress.
Trying to not flip out!

LindaRK, I think many docs practice CYA medicine these days.

[SighNoMore]

Hopefully he is in with the doctor right now. So anxious!

[SighNoMore]

So he is going for blood work. The GI thinks his liver or gallbladder could be the issue. Please pray it isn't cancer. He has an ultrasound tomorrow and another appointment on Tuesday to discuss the results. If those are clear the next step will be taken--possibly a colonoscopy, etc.

Just so scared.

[mollyfin]

Good luck!  Gallbladder issues are very common and painful - you mentioned his pain was on the right and increasing?  I think that's what my friends with gallbladder issues described.  Or it could be IBS - I once went months with a horrible stitch pain in my left side waxing and waning.  If I ate, if I walked or stood for too long, any little thing would set it off.  Then one day it went away.  I figured it was IBS.

[oregoncoastlady]

After my dad's surgery in November he was put on miralax. He was very backed up. He was having some pretty severe pains from the back up. Ended up in the ER. X-ray showed the back up. Miralax helped, but did cause some very loose stools. He adjusted his dose and now his stools are a mix of loose and normal. Cancer was never considered. Now that the back up is gone, so are the pains.

[SighNoMore]

My sweet husband is having his ultrasound this morning and I am sick with fear. I am just so scared.

[LindaRK]

Do you have any meds you could take while this is going on?  Something more to help calm you? Benzos are usually good for this.

Hopefully, the ultrasound will answer some questions for you both ...... and, hopefully, it's something benign or simple like the gallbladder - remove it and be done with the problem.  I've had mine out.  It was laparascopic and no big deal.  I was out pulling weeds the next day (which I probably shouldn't have done), but nonetheless, goes to show how miraculous some of these procedures are these days!

[SighNoMore]

No meds. Just trying to use my CBT to get me through, and take the edge off. Lots of praying too. The tech told my husband a few bits of info: liver and gallbladder are fine. The only issue they saw was two kidney stones. My husband has a history of stones and said the pain felt similar, but different in the last few weeks. He told his GP and the GI he thought it might be stones, but they immediately dismissed that. So we shall see what the GI says next week at his follow up.

He may have to have a CT and colonoscopy per the GI if the u/s didn't find anything. Just praying it is the stones and nothing more.

[sixpack]

remember not EVERYTHING is cancer.

[SighNoMore]

remember not EVERYTHING is cancer.

But Google told me it was ;)

Sorry, couldn't help myself!!

[sixpack]

remember not EVERYTHING is cancer.

But Google told me it was ;)

Sorry, couldn't help myself!!

um yea...   

[sassparella]

Glad the ultrasound showed his liver and gallbladder were fine, hopefully the pain can be put down to the stones and your husband just has a bad case of being backed up. It sounds positive though, thinking of you both.

[SighNoMore]

Thank you Sass!!! Hoping it is the stones too. Trying to not panic.

[LindaRK]

What's the word on your hubby?

[SighNoMore]

He just called :) Thank you so much for asking!!
Blood work was fine minus a barely above normal glucose level. Like 1 over; however his mom has severe diabetes so that was a good wake up call. Everything else was fine. A trace of protein in his urine, but no concern there, and could be from the stones. His liver is a tiny bit fatty. The doctor said not much at all. He is doing more in-depth blood tests just to check on things. The doctor told him he has chondritis most likely. He is on an anti-inflammatory for two weeks to see if that helps. He has a follow up in a month. So hopefully it is all fine and the meds help kick whatever to the curb!

[Slangevar]

No idea if this means anything, but I got loose stools, too, when my blood sugar was starting to edge above normal. (They went back to normal as I controlled my diet & exercise.)  My mom, who has full type 2 diabetes, has nothing but loose stools.  Is there a connection?  No idea... I'm no doctor. But it's certainly a pattern in my family.

[SighNoMore]

Thanks for sharing that Slangevar! Interesting connection. Hopefully we can do diet and exercise modification and get this all under control.

[LindaRK]

Well, that sounds like pretty good news!  Interesting diagnosis of chondritis ..... especially with the symptoms he was presenting.  Did he have chest/rib pain (typical of costochondritis)?

[SighNoMore]

All he had was rib pain on the lower right side. No chest pain at all. He said that it feels like a sharp pain that is more pronounced with certain movements, etc. Hoping that it goes away soon. His primary care doc assumed it was all due to constipation, but that got sorted out and he still had the pain.

Praying the meds help, the extra labs come back ok and he is better soon! His initial labs were great!

[LindaRK]

Interesting!  Does it hurt when he coughs or only when he moves a certain way?  Does he feel pain otherwise or only on certain movements?  Sure sounds muscular to me, but I'm not a doc.

[SighNoMore]

Not sure about coughing, but I know it hurts more with certain movements. I think the pain is always there, but worse with certain movement. I agree, I think muscular too.

Whatever it is, I just hope it goes away.

[LindaRK]

Keep us posted!  Glad what's coming back now is positive news!

[SighNoMore]

I agree. So far, so good. Praying that continues.

[sassparella]

Great news :) so glad for you, I'm sure his other bloods will come back fine too.

[SighNoMore]

So my husband was taking Aleve per the GI to reduce the inflammation. That was helping, and the pain went almost completely away. However, it started again. His GI said he wanted to prescribe a stronger anti-inflammatory, but he was allergic to that particular medication so he said oh just take Aleve again. My husband had a physical so he went back to his PC doctor. The PC doc said to take prednisone so he is in the middle of taking that. The pain is still there. In the mean time he learned he had high cholesterol and triglycerides as well.

I am freaking out that this pain is NOT going all the way away and something sinister is going on. Could a very slight fatty liver and high triglycerides cause the pain? It is upper right quadrant pain around the base of his ribs. I am just so scared.