i remember in 1993 there was a huge aspestos crisis in the public schools of NYC. i was 10 years old at the time and now 19/m... i remember that dirty old smelly staircase that i had to walk up daily since kindergaurden. it looked really bad... i allways thought it was aspestos at the time because of all the talk about it. I started smoking at around 16...
the other day i noticed a large swelling on my rib. (between skin and rib) It is pretty big and its scaring the living SH** out of me. Its kinda movable and it hurts when i press on it. It might have taken 2 days for this thing to grow and it is not getting smaller. Ive had chest pains b4 but im not sure how to describe them. i couldnt breath in because of a sharp pain. I never thought much of it because it allways went away and barely ever came back. ive also noticed that my stool was bloody a couple of times in the past 6 years.
i researched this lump of mine and it lead me to Mesothelioma... i know for a fact that ive been exposed to aspestos for about 3-4 years at age 7-10 because they closed teh school down to clean the aspestos. am I being paranoid? is there a chance this is not a cancer but somethign else? it's only been about 8 years since my exposure to aspestos. Ive read that it takes about 20 to appear.
[This message has been edited by noone (edited 05-14-2003).]
Wow, and they say that the internet medical resource is a GOOD THING.
The internet, sadly, is not a pathology book. The only thing that'll come close is a doctor. Sounds to me like some kind of herniation of the intercostal muscles, but hey, I'm not a doctor either.
A mesothelioma, however, usually takes forever and a day to develop clinical symptoms -- on the range of 20 to 30 years. Also, mesotheliomas do not develop on the outside chest wall, but rather on the INSIDE, so the fact that you can feel a lump immediately makes me believe that it isn't a mesothelioma. Especially given the fact that chest wall pain very commonly mimicks pleuritic pain. If you could feel a lump in your pleura through an inch of densely-packed muscle and bone, you've got the most amazing sensory perception I've ever seen.
Blood in the stools can easily be hemorrhoids or something else that's extremely benign, especially if it is not a constant or even frequent thing.
Things the lump could be -- I've already mentioned herniation but that's more if the lump is between your ribs, and not directly on top of one. A lump directly on top of a rib could be a calcification from a tiny break there that you did not notice, a collection of scar tissue called a fibroma, It may be a bone cyst, another similar growth, whatever. A cancer you might want to rule out is bone cancer.
Bottom line -- go see your doctor, show it to your doctor, get him to take some x-rays (called rib x-rays series).
i appretiate your time... made me feel alot better. I have an appointment schedualed...
The lump (more like a large swelling) i would say is an inch and a half in diameter... its kinda movable, hurts when i press on it... and when i stretch my arms up it hurts as well... its sorta like a blood clot but not painfull. I can understand what you said about the Mesothelioma, but cant the liquid drain out of the rib cage to cause a swelling? ive also been exposed to lots of asbestos and i smoked for 3 years. I just need to know for sure that this is not Mesothelioma cause i think i was startin to have panic attacks.
[.][.]
| x| </== where its located... if u were to look
| | towards me thats where it would be
Don't get yourself all worked up over this see your dr get the tests done and ease your mind asbestosis takes a minimun of 10-20 years it usually surfaces at about the 20-30 year mark
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To live my life to its fullest and to put all my trust in God.
Liquid can drain out and cause a swelling but I'm dead serious -- there's at LEAST an inch of tightly packed muscle and bone that it would have to get through before you'd be able to feel it well enough to palpate a size. I will bet you good money that that is not a mesothelioma.
Yes I agree with there posts! I have a friend who's mother has died from it, and they just keep daughter testing every so often because she was around the asbestos too when young...I hope it turns out ok..Have you went to Dr yet? Let us know how you are feeling!
scared to death.... Mesothelioma? 
