Remember when I got a mystery lower abdominal pain a couple of years ago? It began mid-November and lasted until I had a PET scan near the end of January, and was similar to something that occurred a couple of years previously. WELL IT’S BACK!

The abdominal pain (lower left hand side) started up again on Wednesday. I’m not talking about the usual discomfort I have due to adhesions, hernia, etc. I’m talking PAIN. But fuck it, rather than race to emergency again, I decided to leave it until I see the oncologist on Monday (FINALLY got an appointment). Then I was talking to my friend Ann about this and she said “sounds like when I get diverticulitis”. Say what? So I googled diverticulitis and there were my symptoms to a T. But I mean, wtf? You’d think the many doctors I have described this problem to would have also heard of diverticulitis, no?

Anyhow, learning that this is a fairly normal disease and is rarely life-threatening (though it can be) helped me relax a bit. And now I have a bit more “ammunition” for getting the scans I need when I see the onc. I had an ultrasound done a couple of weeks ago – a month later than it should have been – and they recommended an MRI because they found a couple of dodgy bits in my liver they want to check out further. So now I have to press for the MRI and probably another colonoscopy. DYI post cancer revisions.

And another amazing thing! I casually mentioned to Ann that the radiating pain in my right upper arm had also returned, and although I was sure they couldn’t be related I also thought it was weird that I had this exact same arm pain during the two months I had the belly pain. And good ol’ Ann sent me this…

Referred Pain in Right Arm from Abdominal Wall Pseudoaneurysm

I mean seriously, who’da thunk it?? Especially as I mentioned the arm pain to the oncologist two years ago and she said it had nothing to do with the abdominal pain. I know I know… diagnosing yourself on the internet isn’t often accurate (or advisable) but it sure does seem like these two problems have been explained, and that they are related. So now I just have to get through the next few days and maybe also get a blood test done to check for infection… it’s always something.