Leona

[Guest guest]

Hi Leona, I am a few days behind on the PSC posts so I just read your

Farewell and I'm back posts. I am very glad you decided to stay with

the group because there is so much support here for all. I am not sure

what tests your doctor has done so, I don't know if my story will help

you but I hope it does. When doctors were trying to diagnose what

turned out to be PSC and UC, I was given an ultrasound that showed

dilated bile ducts. The next day they did a CT and the radiologist

reported seeing a mass that was probably pancreatic cancer. My doctor

phoned me at work and told me I probably had pancreatic cancer. The

next day I had an ERCP ultrasound and that showed that the mass the CT

showed was only a lymph gland in the wrong place. The bottom line is

that even if after the CT they tell you that they see cancer, don't stop

there. Get a second opinion, see if an ERCP ultrasound is available, if

not go to a different medical group.

Also at the conference I met another PSC patient who was told she had

pancreatic cancer and it was a false alarm. If she reads this, I hope

she can share her story.

Even if the doctors are not wrong. Don't give up hope. A lot of people

care about you.

(Sacramento) dx UC and PSC 2001.

[Guest guest]

Leona

Glad to hear your news has improved. I certainly S. comment

back in April. Docs do us no good to rush to such diagnosis. Talk about

" first do no harm " , the emotional upheaval that this kind of news sets into

motion is bad enough when it is true, when it is a false alarm it boarders

criminal. I too had the cancer false alarm some years back, and folks here

that say you don't have the diagnosis until you have it, and sometimes even

then, sometimes you don't is a idea well worth keeping in our front pockets.

Hope you have been able to celebrate life the day you got the

retraction!

Best

jd, 45

UC 1973, Jpouch 2000, Chronic Pouchitis 2001, PSC 2004, Stage 3

Southern, IL