Symptoms ? I’m going insane with worry

Hi Crabby, So sorry to hear that you are feeling so anxious and worried . Hopefully you will be able to speak to the doctors tomorrow when the surgery but in the meantime, I hope this will reassure you It is highly highly unlikely that any ovarian cancer would be present for over 6 years with a normal calcium 125 test. And more to the point it would not spread to the anus, that is not where secondaries would go to. I believe most anal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas , a different sort of cancer to ovarian completely . I hope that puts your mind at rest a little, not to say the lump shouldn’t be checked out. It is likely ( if in the uk) that you would be seen under the 2 week wait pathway if it was thought necessary by your GP. You would then go through a myriad of tests, colonoscopy and biopsy and probably MRI and CT scans as well. These latter scans would also have the benefit of imaging your ovaries as well and giving you reassurance there. Good luck and  I hope that helps. 

Hi @Crabby, I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling so anxious about your health. Health anxiety can be truly mentally crippling. You're doing absolutely the right thing in making a doctor's appointment. The GP should give you a digital rectal examination (DRE). They will insert a gloved finger (using lube) into your anus. This does not hurt. Hopefully, the outcome will be that you have a haemorrhoid or other benign condition. If the GP is unsure, he/she will refer you to a Colo-Rectal surgeon for further investigations. Whilst seeing your GP, perhaps you could also mention  the ovary issue to put your mind at rest? I would be surprised if, six and a half years on, an ovarian cancer which had spread would not be causing multiple  issues body wide so I think it unlikely this has occurred in your case.   Bev 

Thank you very much for your kindness , I will of course follow all this up now , I have made my mind up to confront these fears as if it is horrible it must be addressed in any ways. I will report back when I have any info.

Hello there and thank you reaching out to me , I have decided to deal with my issues and perhaps also confront my health anxiety demons with who ever I see ( if I can get an appt ) I can’t live for this long with all these demons eating me with worry. I will come back and let you know what is going on. Thank you again

Hi ,

Welcome to our group. I echo all that both Pita & 1in1500 have both said & I too think that you would be having seriously severe symptoms by now if the ovarian issue was in any way cancer related. Regarding the lump you’ve found this definitely needs checking out but hopefully it’ll be something benign & your mind can be put at ease. I also agree with what you’ve said about seeking some help with your health anxiety as I’ve seen firsthand with someone I know how debilitating & life restricting this can be, it can be pretty disabling & can take up every waking moment of thought, you must be in permanent fight or flight mode & that must be so, so exhausting. One piece of advice I would give is that if once you see a GP if they don’t offer to do an internal examination (DRE) then please ask for one, don’t be given a ‘likely to be’ explanation to your symptoms you need to know for sure. 

Nicola

Hello and thank you for replying to my scream for help. I have just come back from the GP who has referred me to the 2 week exam at the hospital as she says “ it’s a hard lump and anal cancer is not as rare as you think “ when I asked her. She also said that I could’ve have had ovarian cancer for 6 and a half years as it can be very slow growing . So now I’m just a glob of jelly . Far far worse if that’s possible than what I was .  Thank you for your kind words , I will have to wait .I also requested a CA125 test and an ultrasound , the GP said that even urgent referrals are running at 16 weeks ?!?! So it may be if the colorectal team request a Ct MRI whatever it may trump the ultrasound and provide further answers . I’m lost now , can’t think 

Hi  you should be seen in the colo-rectal department within the next 14 days. I would imagine they will want to biopsy the lump in addition to a MRI and CT scan. I had my scans before the biopsy but different areas do things in a different order. My scan & biopsy results were back within 14 days so not much hanging around. The good news is that the vast majority of anal cancers are squamous cell cancers and are slow growing. The success rate for treatment of anal cancer  is pretty high.  In relation to ovarian cancer please click on the following link to take you to the ovarian cancer group, they can offer more specialist advice on that side of things https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/ovarian-cancer-forum/   If you’re having trouble coping please call your GP who will be able to help. Please also post on here, we are here to support you. Bev x

Hello Bev , thank you the info I did ask the GP what else it could be and she said , “a gristly lump” a cyst ? Who knows ? Even if it is a nasty , they’ll chop it out” ……….I was impressed. 

Hi again ,

I’m really pleased that your GP has referred you on the 2 week pathway for further investigations at least it means you won’t be waiting around for ages for an appointment to come through to give you the answers that you need.

The current statistics for cases of anal cancer in the UK between 2016-2018 stand at 1,519 cases per year which does still make it pretty rare although obviously that’s still 1,519 too many! I would also like to think that if your GP seriously thought that there was any chance that you had ovarian cancer that she would not make you wait 16 weeks for an ‘urgent’ ultrasound, she should have referred you on the 2 week pathway to gynaecology also as per the protocol.

You’re correct in what you’re saying that should the colorectal team request MRI & CT scans following your appointment any abnormalities will be picked up. For anal cancer, diagnostic & surveillance scans, the MRI covers pelvis only & CT covers chest, abdomen & pelvis so they’re pretty thorough.

As Bev has said things work a little different depending on which hospital you’re seen at & how that particular team work, in my case I was diagnosed by biopsy then scanned following my diagnosis. 

Please let us know how you get on. 

Nicola

Let’s hope it IS a happy new year for everyone . The upto date info thus far. I got an appt for 13th Jan 22 with the colorectal team at the hospital (40mile round trip ) so I would like to ask , what is actually done or carried out on this initial visit , I know each place works differently , but no one has given me a clear idea of what to expect except and DRE and countless questions. BTW , had a full blood count test done , all normal , and the CA 125 results were fab, at 14 so that was a tiny bit of good news. I will let you know what goes on.