I read so many of your comments, and so many of you asked for your fellow commenters to follow up and let everyone know what they were eventually diagnosed with. If you're one of those people, hopefully you won't mind taking the time to read this longer post with my story.
I went to the E.R. yesterday at 3:30 AM having finally succumb to fear and anxiety of not knowing what this was! I had the same symptoms everyone in here describes. A hard mass in my upper abdomen which felt about the size of a golf ball. As some of you described, I could feel that it would move or shift inside of me. Lying in my side felt like a pinching sensation. The general area was tender especially when it was pushed on. I did my online research including visiting this page and in the end was very worried that something was very wrong. It's scary. I'd found the lump about 2 months ago and since then had been avoiding doing any kind of research because I was afraid of what I might find. I'd go on throughout my days having bouts of absolute dread. Went on and on, I'd worry, make myself forget about it and them would be reminded because of a sharp pain, or having leaned up against something and unintentionally felt the hard mass. Every time I would try and tell myself this was probably not a big deal, or maybe I had forgotten about an injury or pulled a muscle. Then I'd think "Wake up girl! You have a giant hard lump located on your vital organs, RIGHT BY YOUR LIVER!. It's so obvious this is BAD. "
E.R. doctor did a physical examination of my torso and quickly located the large lump. He said, "Oh! This is it huh?" It sounds weird, but I was so relieved when he felt it and acknowledged that indeed I did have this large lump. He was very casual about it all and kept such a calm demeanor. Just his bedside manner seemed to ease my anxiety quite a bit. They took blood and he ordered a CT scan so he could "Take a peek and see what's going on". An hour or so later after the CT scan he knocked on my door. Both me and my boyfriend had fallen asleep as it was probably 4:30 AM by then. I was so thankful that I'd been unconscious for that hour so I didn't have to go through the dread of waiting for the lab and imaging results.
He said, "So you do not have a hernia or any type of tumor there, your CT scan looks great actually. The blood came back 10/10 and the CT scan shows no irregularities in any of your organs, liver is healthy. What we did find was you have some fibrous fatty tissue that's hardened and that's what you're feeling. The fat sometime gets hard and produces a lump. It's not anything to worry about and we don't really do anything to treat it unless it's causing a great deal of discomfort." Let's just say I felt relieved and silly at the same time. Not only was I relieved that this mass wasn't something like cancer or the like, but I was even more relieved to hear that my organs looked healthy and normal and that my blood tests were perfect.
I've not taken very good care of myself and now at 32 Im finding it's starting to creep up on me. Talk about a wake up call. I've struggled with my weight all my life because I make bad choices in my eating habits. I've smoked for a number of years and for a span of about 10 years had pill issues. I thought for sure I'd have some kind of liver damage after the years of poor diet and drug abuse. The first goal I've set for myself is to exercise. I don't have health insurance but I know for a fact that exercise is the best preventative medicine and the best treatment.
Aside from describing my own goals and feelings about this, I hope that this helps some of you to put your mind at ease. Even though some of us may end up finding out we do indeed have some kind of serious medical issue, I'm hoping that my example will just go to show that that sometimes illnesses on the opposite sides of the spectrum can produce identical symptoms. If you made it this far then I thank you for taking the time to read my story through to the end. It felt good to get this off my chest with people I know can relate. Good luck to you all and please remember to do your neighbors a favor and let them know what the doctors say when you get treatment.
Sending all of you good energy!
Sent from my iPaD
Now sometime someone ask me about weird pains in that v where the legs join the pelvis; and not being able to sleep because of the pain. Waking up over and over every night to rearrange myself. I also couldn't keep up with the speed of other people's walking. I had severe back pain. This grew and grew for at least 15 years. Turned out I had arthritis in my hips-bone on bone trying to move without any cushion between them, as well as bone spurs. I needed double hip replacements. I did that last year and my life has been transformed...
I did blood test, ultrasound and a lot of other testes and very thing came back normal
It doesn't hurt or anything like that
I'm just losing a lot of weight
If anyone Has Any idea what it is please let me know. Thank you.