Arranging to have investigations

Hi everyone and thanks for having me here.

I have some symptoms that could point to kidney cancer. (Over the last five years or so I’ve had two cystoscopies because traces of blood were found in my urine. Both cystoscopies were negative. There was another such finding in Jan of this year by medics testing for something else. My GP pointed to the two negative cystoscopies and said it seems I’m somebody who always has blood in my urine and suggested no further tests. I was happy as I didn’t realise there were possibilities other than bladder issues, and wasn’t keen for an unnecessary cystoscopy. A few months later I started to have an ache in my right side about waist height and behind my ribs. It’s not very painful but it’s always there. GP said some months ago to return if it didn’t go away. It hasn’t gone and it’s still always present. It’s a little more painful now than it was, but I still rarely need painkillers (Paracetamol) for it. Because of that I’ve assumed it can’t be kidney stones as I’ve heard they’re agonising. Finally, I recently had an operation for some oesophageal thing and a few weeks ago received blood test results indicating that my red blood cell count is low. As far as I know that’s a new thing for me.)

I returned to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been referred to my local hospital for an ultrasound scan of my urinary tract in just over a month from now.

I have a sort of mini-insurance that would pay for tests, and I’m wondering whether it’s worth using it and, if so, how to go about it. Has everybody here who has had investigations used the NHS, or have any of you seen a consultant privately and had them refer you for tests? I don’t know enough to be confident that an ultrasound scan is all I need, and tbh I don’t have confidence in my GPs to want to look more closely if an ultrasound were to come back negative. Nor does my local hospital have a great reputation. Would a negative ultrasound be a guarantee that there’s nothing wrong, or should there also be a CT scan? I don’t know, and I can’t work out where to go for advice on all this. 

Many thanks for any guidance anyone here can offer. I’m not out of my mind with anxiety, btw - I realise odds are against there being an issue - but at the same time I’m getting older now (64) and these things do happen. I’d just like to have an investigation I can have confidence in.