Diagnosis Needed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again -

She had her blood drawn again this morning. Waiting for the results.
She asked the doc about ovarian cancer and celiac, but the doc says she is pretty darn sure the bleeding is coming from her colon. Mind you, the blood is trace blood - not like its gushing (not to be gross).

If the count has gone down, they are going to push the colonoscopy up.As of now, it is scheduled for the end of December.

Last test showed her blood count at 25, which is REALLY low.

She has not had her gallbladder removed.

I still think it's endometriosis, but if endo has affected her intestines (which can cause rectal bleeding), then the colonoscopy (and biospy) will show that.

[Anonymous]

Will keep you posted. Blood work coming back tomorrow morning. I told her about the endo, which I also believe fits. Her cramps have always been off the charts. getting worse as she ages. She takes naproxin for it, it's that bad.

I don't know how she's functioning through all this.

[Anonymous]

Bad IBD like Crohn's; thyroid should be checked; ulcer; screen for colon cancer.

[Anonymous]

Your description of her symptoms fits ulcerative colitis/Crohn's Disease, also - it can be debilitating diarrhea, cramping (it is often hard to tell the difference b/w pain from colon and period cramping), blood loss in stools thus anemia thus dizziness. Also usually weight loss, not gain (the perimenopause could explain that). Anyway sounds like her drs are ordering lots of relevant tests. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I've had ulcerative colitis for 20 years and have never heard of someone with UC or Crohn's who has weight GAIN as a symptom. Instead, serious and fast weight loss is the norm during flareups.

Good luck to the OP.

[Anonymous]

Op, is her doctor checking thyroid levels with this round of bloodwork?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -

She had her blood drawn again this morning. Waiting for the results.
She asked the doc about ovarian cancer and celiac, but the doc says she is pretty darn sure the bleeding is coming from her colon. Mind you, the blood is trace blood - not like its gushing (not to be gross).

If the count has gone down, they are going to push the colonoscopy up.As of now, it is scheduled for the end of December.

Last test showed her blood count at 25, which is REALLY low.

She has not had her gallbladder removed.

I still think it's endometriosis, but if endo has affected her intestines (which can cause rectal bleeding), then the colonoscopy (and biospy) will show that.

yes, endom. can become so large that it can push up against other organs (such as the GI tract) and thus cause problems with the GI tract...which can be deceiving b/c that is not where the problem is, but sometimes doctors don't think outside the box.

Your friend should schedule an appt. with her gyn. They can do an u/s scan of her abdomen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -

She had her blood drawn again this morning. Waiting for the results.
She asked the doc about ovarian cancer and celiac, but the doc says she is pretty darn sure the bleeding is coming from her colon. Mind you, the blood is trace blood - not like its gushing (not to be gross).

If the count has gone down, they are going to push the colonoscopy up.As of now, it is scheduled for the end of December.

Last test showed her blood count at 25, which is REALLY low.

She has not had her gallbladder removed.

I still think it's endometriosis, but if endo has affected her intestines (which can cause rectal bleeding), then the colonoscopy (and biospy) will show that.

yes, endom. can become so large that it can push up against other organs (such as the GI tract) and thus cause problems with the GI tract...which can be deceiving b/c that is not where the problem is, but sometimes doctors don't think outside the box.

Your friend should schedule an appt. with her gyn. They can do an u/s scan of her abdomen.

Another Endo patient here. Yes, ITA that your friend could potentially have Endo. Just so she knows, Endo can only be dx via surgery - so while the OB may suspect it, she might not get a definitive dx. Also, many of the area OB's are dismissive on the treatment of Endo, and if your friend does get the surgery, she needs to make sure the OB is an endo specialist. She should make sure that the OB does the excise method to remove the Endo, not just ablate (burn) it off. I haven't found any surgeons in the area that treat this way. The nearest is at Duke University.

[Anonymous]

OP -- any word on the bloodwork and such? I'm intrigued! I hope she's okay...

[Anonymous]

No word yet. They said early afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Bumping for an update?

[Anonymous]

My DH suffered from diverticular disease last year and had many of the symptoms you listed. CT scans repeatedly showed an abscess that appeared to be 2 -3 cm in size. However, when the surgeon finally operated the abscess was found to be the size of a grapefruit (b/c of the location - lower sigmoid portion of the colon - the scans were not able to read the true size of the abscess).

[Anonymous]

OP Here -
Blood count came back as stable. Count is still 25, too low. But at least it has not gone down.
Doc has moved up colonscopy for next week instead of end of December.

Not sure if thyroid levels are being checked. One would assume that the docs would know to do that??
I dunno....

[Anonymous]

RN here... Chronic fatigue?

[Anonymous]

If the colonoscopy comes back with bad news, I recommend:

http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/