stomach cancer?? - Cancer: Stomach Message Board

carisa · 07-01-2006, 02:13 PM

My mom has had a persistant stomach ache for the last six months. It has not gone away at all. She says it is always there from the time she wakes up in the morning to the time she goes to sleep. Because of that she does not think it is from eating certain foods. She is very concerned. She thinks she is going to be getting one of those cameras down her throat. Is that the only way to detect stomach cancer, it just sounds so awful. Also, does this sound like stomach cancer or maybe something else? She is 53 yrs. old and very concerned. Oh, and she is way more bloated than ever before just in her stomach area, she is not overweight. Thank you!

whitewingdove · 07-09-2006, 04:47 PM

hi,
my girlfriend has the same problem and we thought it was stomach cancer. but they did endoscopy(camera down the throat) and a colonoscopy and took a biopsy during the colonoscopy and the biopsy was the only thing that showed her cancer. it is a malignant carcinoid tumor in the small intestine which is very rare. they basically knock you out during the endoscopy and colonoscopy so you don't even care so it won't be so bad. her symptoms are-blood in stool, naseau, feeling of fullness, bloating, pain in stomach and abdomen, flushing, and some others i can't think of right now. the dr. said that it's a perfectly operable tumor and she should be just fine. i hope all goes well for you.

carisa · 07-10-2006, 02:35 PM

thanks for the response. I don't know how anyone can go through with that camera down the throat thing! Yikes!

whitewingdove · 07-11-2006, 11:12 PM

i was there with her when b4 they did it and after and she was pretty knocked out and didn't remember a thing so it wasn't bad. she wasn't sore afterwards from it either so that's good. i hope everything turns out okay with your mom. please keep me posted. they also have a new thing where you swallow a microscopic camera with a chip or something in it that they can view so they can see all the way thru you. i think it's pretty cool that they can do that.

Isobella · 07-21-2006, 07:43 AM

An endoscopy (looking into the esophagus and stomach) is really nothing to worry about. I had one a few months ago and they just gave me some sedation into my arm and I was totally asleep and knew nothing of what was going on. I wasn't even slightly sore afterwards, but felt a little bit sleepy for an hour or so. As for your mother's symptoms, there are lots of things could cause those so please don't jump to the conclusion of cancer. My sister had persistent stomach problems, really quite bad symptoms for months, but they did an endoscopy and found she had a patch of inflammation on the stomach lining, nothing more. She had bloating as well as pain and very bad indigestion, so was relieved to find it wasn't anything too serious. But - and this is important - it's always best to get any tests/checks necessary just to rule out a more sinister cause and of course to get treatment for whatever is causing the problem. I hope your mother's symptoms aren't due to any serious cause - let us know how it goes.