30 years old, cousin died of pancreatic cancer and I have symptoms

[Audpoet]

My story is below.. if anyone could respond with what they think it could be other than cancer.

 

It started in 2019 when I was pregnant with second child.  I was found to have anemia when never had it before.  Didn't think much over.  Months passed and started having burning pain under both ribs.  Stool solid and light brown but started having a yellow fluid with it (the water colors yellow but not oily).  Smelly stool and tiny bit wet looking.  Pain also started on left side with chest pains, pain under armpit etc but manageable (most is discomfort not extreme pain).

 

Everything checked out fine with obgyn but had an abdominal ultrasound and they said they found a polyp on my gallbladder.  I discuss their findings next week.

 

 

I am worried!! My cousin died at 48 with pain and they all said he just had issues with his gallbladder.  They went to remove it and found he had pancreatic cancer stage 4.  I know abdominal scans can't catch pancreatic cancer and I do think I will ask for an endoscopy but also want to know..

Will gallbladder polyps really cause this?  They said I had just one but won't know until I go talk to them.  Also how can my stool return to normal?? I don't have liquid poop and sometimes I get constipated.

 

I'm a non smoker.  30 years old.  Don't really drink except occasionally.  Normal weight but don't really exercise.  Thank you.  So worried :(  I received news my cousin died of it around the time I started having issues.

[Lori]

I can share my exerience if that helps?

 

First off, when I went jaundiced, and realised something was not right with my gallbladder, I had really light stool colour, not light brown, but pale like the colour of beach sand. My urine was brown, and the whites of my eyes were yellow - literally nothing was the colour it was supposed to be. Thats when I had an ercp and they realised the bile duct was blocked and needed a stent. What they thought was a gallstone from the CT scan, was just inflammation - that led them to do other scans to get to the root cause of what was really going on. A couple weeks later I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

 

The pain I've had with pancreatic cancer, was high up my abdomen, just below ribcage, but above belly button. It also hurt in my back, in roughly the same position, under the ribcage.

 

They did not find the pancreatic cancer with an endoscopy, or ultrasound - it was found using a CT Scan with pancreas protocol, an MRI, and a PET scan. So I'd suggest a CT scan to rule out pancreatic cancer. Although, I was under my BUPA insurance, I suspect NHS would not be as accomodating.

[Audpoet]

Thanks for the info!  I don't have jaundice and my poo is light brown but yellow colored water.  As far as pain, I have that pain too.  I feel it sometimes in back but also have it on right sometimes too.

 

I wanted to mention too about the pain under armpit.  It seems to hurt the most when I get the ribcage pain.  Also pain shooting into breast too sometimes.  Could this be a reaction from pancreas you think?

 

I saw the GI today and they want to do a endoscopy and colonoscopy.  Should I just forgo this and get a CT scan instead?  I don't want to go to ER for this and wondering where else I could go.

[LisaC]

Looking back on the symptoms my fiancé had his back pain started in February/March last year, he was not diagnosed until mid November when it had already spread. By October he had weight loss and vomiting, he did not have any jaundice until a few days before he died. He was 37 years old. 

 

I would think given you have had these symptoms since 2019 and from what I have read pancreatic cancer seems to be a rapidly growing and metastasising cancer in younger people 

[Lori]

@Audpoet I would say that I want a CT scan with the pancreas protocol. I had the pain in the back and front for a while and it just kept getting wrongly diagnosed. Who knows, if I'd had the CT scan then, how might that have influenced the outcome?

[Audpoet]

Thank you for all the replies.  I think they wanted to check colon too for endo and colonoscopy.  It doesn't feel like it's colon related as I don't have blood and what with the gallbladder polyps.  Guess I will find out soon.  Just hoping I can finally get an answer.  They did mention that since my symptoms appeared within one year of giving birth there could be reasons there but I don't know.