Ultrasound
I finally had the ultrasound this morning, for the lump in my abdomen. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything, including water, past midnight. The water thing is difficult for me, as I'm constantly picking up a water bottle, even in the middle of the night. Every time I wake up, even a little, I have to drink some water before I can go back to sleep because my mouth and throat are so dry. So, no water for me.
Thumbs up, Island Ultrasound, for keeping your gel in warming containers. That was awesome. The tech asked me how big the lump was - size of a looney, or a quarter. I laughed and said no, it's much bigger than that. When she measured, it's 3x3x8 cm, approximately. They have a monitor on the wall so that you can watch what's going on. She had to try three different scan heads before she found one that would work. It was really neat, because you can see the fibrous tissues of the abdominal muscles, and the pulsing of arteries. All of that's really clear. What's NOT clear, is what the hell the lump is. She couldn't tell. She called in their radiologist. He couldn't tell either. He could tell that it's on top of the muscles, not under it, because when I bear down with my abdominals the lump goes up, instead of being pushed back in. I could have told them that. The tech could see some movement, some small blood vessels. But they can't actually tell if it's a hernia or not. They both said that I'll need a CT scan. Which means...more waiting. I have to book a doctor's appointment for next week, to go over the results of the ultrasound with my doctor, and we'll go from there.
I was really hoping it would be a hernia. Or at least, an easy to identify hernia. Then at least we would know what it is, instead of being back at square one.
Thumbs up, Island Ultrasound, for keeping your gel in warming containers. That was awesome. The tech asked me how big the lump was - size of a looney, or a quarter. I laughed and said no, it's much bigger than that. When she measured, it's 3x3x8 cm, approximately. They have a monitor on the wall so that you can watch what's going on. She had to try three different scan heads before she found one that would work. It was really neat, because you can see the fibrous tissues of the abdominal muscles, and the pulsing of arteries. All of that's really clear. What's NOT clear, is what the hell the lump is. She couldn't tell. She called in their radiologist. He couldn't tell either. He could tell that it's on top of the muscles, not under it, because when I bear down with my abdominals the lump goes up, instead of being pushed back in. I could have told them that. The tech could see some movement, some small blood vessels. But they can't actually tell if it's a hernia or not. They both said that I'll need a CT scan. Which means...more waiting. I have to book a doctor's appointment for next week, to go over the results of the ultrasound with my doctor, and we'll go from there.
I was really hoping it would be a hernia. Or at least, an easy to identify hernia. Then at least we would know what it is, instead of being back at square one.