Undiagnosed but worried-urologist appt soon

6 years 3 weeks ago #54997 by DougG
Natalie,
Yes, you can get a ct scan without contrast. I would think if you've had a reaction to the dye, that is what your doctor's would do.
Best wishes,
Anita

Anita
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6 years 3 weeks ago - 6 years 3 weeks ago #54996 by Alan
Natalie777,

Welcome. Being Easter weekend you may not have many views so do not despair. You appear to have a lot going on.

The normal workup for bladder cancer is a cystoscopy and CT scan with contrast. I would certainly want to do both if possible. I don't know enough about contrast dye problems however, that is part of that procedure. You obviously want to get to the bottom of this! At the same time your symptoms could be MANY things. Passed stones, urinary tract infection, cancer, and other bleeding causes such as long distance running. Plus, I know 2 people that pass blood with no known reason ever found. Some 25 years ago my wife had what is called a retrograde pyelogram (sp?) looking into her kidneys to find out why she was passing blood and they NEVER found the cause. Beyond that anything is a guess as none of us are doctors. Just make sure your URO sees a lot of bladder cancer as so many see mostly prostate issues. Let's hope they find an answer and it is minor. Keep posting as you have questions!

DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.

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6 years 3 weeks ago #54995 by Natalie777
I have been having lower abdominal pain and frequent urination for awhile now. The pain started over a month ago with a sharp wrenching pain in my lower left side, it felt like it was in the ureters but hard to tell for sure. I have had pain on both lower sides since then with back pain and frequent urination, along with a burning feeling in the urethra, fatigue and horrible nausea like I have never had before. I have also had itching and pain in the lymph nodes in the pelvic area. I also feel like there is something in the lower left where the pain is but neither my regular dr or gyno could feel it.
My doctor thought the pain could be ovarian so had an ultrasound done. Ovaries were normal but they did find a uterine polyp and I am scheduled to have that removed, the gyno said she was pretty confident it is benign and that it wouldn't be causing these other symptoms. My bladder was very painful when she pressed on it at that appointment. I can't go long without having to urinate.
I am concerned as I have had multiple urinalysis's have microscopic blood in them and my doctor has never done anything about it beyond order a retest in a few weeks to see if the blood clears or say "maybe you had a stone."
I just found out last week that a urinalysis I had done 5 months ago in urgent care had blood and bacteria in it and was never told! When I found out last week I asked for a repeat urinalysis and microscopic blood was again found, but in a lesser amount. That is the only time I have tested positive for bacteria also, the test 5 months ago, all the other times were clear for infection. My doctor said, "maybe this blood is normal for you." WHAT? I have symptoms and blood and this is normal? I first had microscopic blood found in 2008 so 10 years ago! I have had flares for over 12 years where I will get pain in my lower side and back and have frequent urination which will last a few weeks then go away. Like I said when I would go in to the dr. for a check, urine would show microscopic blood but nothing much was done beyond order a pelvic ultrasound a few times and recheck the urine.
Does a pelvic ultrasound look at the bladder? I know the tech commented when I had one last week that she saw my bladder filling again, so they must look at it, right? No mention of it was made on the report however, just results for the ovaries and uterus. With having to have a full bladder, I assume the bladder must have been seen though? I am paranoid that the tech thought she had to tell me after she was done that she saw my bladder filling again so I might want to use the bathroom (even though it had only been 15 mins since I last went,) worried that she saw something so felt she had to mention it? and wondering if it is normal for it to fill again so fast? I also get paranoid that things are being missed, as they were with the test 5 months ago, so it's hard to trust now.

I am concerned and am in a lot of pain and my doctor has ignored this blood for so long. I worry that when I read about symptoms, most people are diagnosed with visible blood but without a lot of other symptoms and I have a lot of painful symptoms, I worry that as this was ignored so long, it is now something very bad. If something had progressed though, would I not see visible blood?
I did have full blood work 5 months ago and everything looked fine but am wondering if I should have kidneys tested again. I am scheduled for a urology appt in about 2 weeks but the appointment is with a nurse practitioner. I did verify and they said she is able to do a cystoscopy. I have just asked my doctor to order a cytology. I also asked if perhaps I should have a ct or mri to see if we can see if something else is going on. I did have a bad reaction to ct iv contrast, can a ct without contrast or an mri see the bladder etc well enough?

Anyways, sorry to babble but I am worried.
Thanks.

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