Stomach Pain - when to go to doctor?

denverpilot said:
Jimmy Buffett’s was better.
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Jimmy has a certain drunk-just-off-the-boat perspective that may appeal to some. Lyle has a stoned, drunk, tripping perspective that acknowledges the reality of the midwest middle class and poor...
 
Clark1961 said:
Jimmy has a certain drunk-just-off-the-boat perspective that may appeal to some. Lyle has a stoned, drunk, tripping perspective that acknowledges the reality of the midwest middle class and poor...
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It’s what you do when you need to keep up the persona but you’re worth millions. :)

And then there’s Willie Nelson... that’s no persona. Hahaha.
 
Rushie said:
I wish it were that easy. Don't you have to show ID now at most doctors offices? Some won't even see you without taking your insurance info up front. Although OP is in Australia, they have some kind of single payer system, not sure if they can go private or how that gets into the record.
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The Aussies have a "national medical record".
 
bbchien said:
The Aussies have a "national medical record".
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We do, too. It's called the MIB. HIPAA? LOL The only people you would NOT want to know about your medical history have a better copy of it than you do.
 
James331 said:
It's like the saying, "if you have to ask"

Seeing the aftermath of people waiting too long, just go in now
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My very first medevac flight was a person that waited too long. Lesson learned.

I was in the emergency room 15 minutes after my heart attack started. The attending Dr. said because I got here so quick there was, in his words. "there is very little to almost no damage to your heart".
 
wrbix said:
Careful now - that's a mighty broad brush with which you're painting .... lest not you offend someone here (me).
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'some' docs. Nobody gets paid to do it right anymore. Broad brush? Sure - you send me a client with a set of facts - and there are a million things to check, 999,999 are an utter waste of time. But when number 752,876 uncovers something - then they're happy. But the bill for that is extreme. So you exercise your judgment and you triage - just like docs. And sometimes - you get burned. Same in medicine I imagine. You ask the questions to try to avoid the problems caused by failing to examine everything - and factor in that your client is probably lying to you. Maybe [big maybe] that is less of an issue with medicine.
 
comanchepilot said:
'some' docs. Nobody gets paid to do it right anymore. Broad brush? Sure - you send me a client with a set of facts - and there are a million things to check, 999,999 are an utter waste of time. But when number 752,876 uncovers something - then they're happy. But the bill for that is extreme. So you exercise your judgment and you triage - just like docs. And sometimes - you get burned. Same in medicine I imagine. You ask the questions to try to avoid the problems caused by failing to examine everything - and factor in that your client is probably lying to you. Maybe [big maybe] that is less of an issue with medicine.
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.....and that, sir or madame, is a large part of the problem - too many physicians in it predominantly for the financial reward. Dedication to the art and science of Medicine has been largely abandoned. Both my wife (RN, BSN) and myself are very concerned re the quality of health care providers available as we enter our "golden years".
 
wrbix said:
.....and that, sir or madame, is a large part of the problem - too many physicians in it predominantly for the financial reward. Dedication to the art and science of Medicine has been largely abandoned. Both my wife (RN, BSN) and myself are very concerned re the quality of health care providers available as we enter our "golden years".
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My wife is a wound care nurse. Some home care nurse (and mine used to do that) sent her a patient with a triple wrap that looked like someone had just gotten done watching a Mummy movie. It was so bad the wound care folks had to take a photo of it and send it back the the home health company’s DON saying, “A Little more training, perhaps?”

The reality is, a lot of new nurses cut their teeth treating the elderly. It can be anything from comical to deadly.
 
Ah, my friend was experiencing stomach pains for a few months, maybe longer. He's in the hospital now recovering from having part of his colon removed. I think he waited too long.
 
PaulS said:
Ah, my friend was experiencing stomach pains for a few months, maybe longer. He's in the hospital now recovering from having part of his colon removed. I think he waited too long.
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My friend died yesterday morning. Diagnosed 8 months ago, stage 4 pNETs (look it up). Just like yours, vague stomach pain, "indigestion" for a few months was his first symptom and by then it was already too late. Unlike your friend it was unresectable. Tried chemo, all that accomplished was to ruin his QoL for several weeks. They offered him a second round but he declined and took a trip to Alaska instead with his wife. It was the right decision.

No sooner did he get back the downward slide accelerated in earnest. Relentless nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, biliary stent, it blocked, change it out for a metal, gastric outlet obstruction, major surgery (gastrojejunostomy), ascites, cachexia, surgical wound failed to close (in retrospect I think he would have been better off with a percutaneous jejunostomy but he was so depressed at the thought of never eating by mouth again... but he never did anyway, the GJ failed to function), and through all this, pain so bad that even a Fentanyl patch failed to stop it. Finally this week complete liver failure.

This man was only 51 years old. The CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation. Built it up and looked forward to retiring and watching it continue to succeed. As recently as one week ago was in the office, working so hard to hand the reigns over to others. But even more important was one of the most giving, charitable people I've ever met. A great loss to this world.
 
Rushie said:
My friend died yesterday morning. Diagnosed 8 months ago, stage 4 pNETs (look it up). Just like yours, vague stomach pain, "indigestion" for a few months was his first symptom and by then it was already too late. Unlike your friend it was unresectable. Tried chemo, all that accomplished was to ruin his QoL for several weeks. They offered him a second round but he declined and took a trip to Alaska instead with his wife. It was the right decision.

No sooner did he get back the downward slide accelerated in earnest. Relentless nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, biliary stent, it blocked, change it out for a metal, gastric outlet obstruction, major surgery (gastrojejunostomy), ascites, cachexia, surgical wound failed to close (in retrospect I think he would have been better off with a percutaneous jejunostomy but he was so depressed at the thought of never eating by mouth again... but he never did anyway, the GJ failed to function), and through all this, pain so bad that even a Fentanyl patch failed to stop it. Finally this week complete liver failure.

This man was only 51 years old. The CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation. Built it up and looked forward to retiring and watching it continue to succeed. As recently as one week ago was in the office, working so hard to hand the reigns over to others. But even more important was one of the most giving, charitable people I've ever met. A great loss to this world.
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Sorry for your loss, I actually don't know why my friend's colon was resectioned, he's pretty hushed about it, I hope it wasn't cancer.
 
PaulS said:
Sorry for your loss, I actually don't know why my friend's colon was resectioned, he's pretty hushed about it, I hope it wasn't cancer.
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Well good point, there are other things that can result in that but I would have thought more chronic stuff, you know like colitis or suchlike, but confess I don't know much about it. I sure hope your friend does well.
 
Rushie said:
Well good point, there are other things that can result in that but I would have thought more chronic stuff, you know like colitis or suchlike, but confess I don't know much about it. I sure hope your friend does well.
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I'm guessing he had diverticulitis and toughed through it rather than seeking help, toughed through it until he had a perforation, my guess anyway. I don't see him very often, another friend who does urged him to see the doctor but he didn't want to go. He's on the mend now. I've seen enough now to know that you deal with stuff as soon as it comes up. Some have a fatalistic attitude where they figure if it's their time it's their time and let fate take them where it may. I never understood this, they think they will pass in their sleep, but often reality is weeks or months of suffering for things that probably could easily be dealt with if they just went.
 
PaulS said:
I'm guessing he had diverticulitis and toughed through it rather than seeking help, toughed through it until he had a perforation, my guess anyway. I don't see him very often, another friend who does urged him to see the doctor but he didn't want to go. He's on the mend now. I've seen enough now to know that you deal with stuff as soon as it comes up. Some have a fatalistic attitude where they figure if it's their time it's their time and let fate take them where it may. I never understood this, they think they will pass in their sleep, but often reality is weeks or months of suffering for things that probably could easily be dealt with if they just went.
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Yep, my friend's case is a big exception. He never had a chance, but like I said earlier in the thread pancreatic cancer is one of the rare things that can have virtually no symptoms until it's very advanced. I don't know exact statistics but I would venture to guess 90% of the time, going to the doctor early on when you have GI changes will result in much better outcomes.
 
Rushie said:
Yep, my friend's case is a big exception. He never had a chance, but like I said earlier in the thread pancreatic cancer is one of the rare things that can have virtually no symptoms until it's very advanced. I don't know exact statistics but I would venture to guess 90% of the time, going to the doctor early on when you have GI changes will result in much better outcomes.
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Scary stuff, and I get that, sometimes nothing can be done. I knew a person, my mom's friend, had a stomach ache, went in after a couple days, and was gone 6 weeks later. You never know, but much better to give yourself a chance. Things that don't resolve on their own after a week or two are worth the trip in my opinion.
 
Rushie said:
My friend died yesterday morning. Diagnosed 8 months ago, stage 4 pNETs (look it up). Just like yours, vague stomach pain, "indigestion" for a few months was his first symptom and by then it was already too late. Unlike your friend it was unresectable. Tried chemo, all that accomplished was to ruin his QoL for several weeks. They offered him a second round but he declined and took a trip to Alaska instead with his wife. It was the right decision.

No sooner did he get back the downward slide accelerated in earnest. Relentless nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, biliary stent, it blocked, change it out for a metal, gastric outlet obstruction, major surgery (gastrojejunostomy), ascites, cachexia, surgical wound failed to close (in retrospect I think he would have been better off with a percutaneous jejunostomy but he was so depressed at the thought of never eating by mouth again... but he never did anyway, the GJ failed to function), and through all this, pain so bad that even a Fentanyl patch failed to stop it. Finally this week complete liver failure.

This man was only 51 years old. The CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation. Built it up and looked forward to retiring and watching it continue to succeed. As recently as one week ago was in the office, working so hard to hand the reigns over to others. But even more important was one of the most giving, charitable people I've ever met. A great loss to this world.
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Sorry for your loss. :(
 
PaulS said:
Scary stuff, and I get that, sometimes nothing can be done. I knew a person, my mom's friend, had a stomach ache, went in after a couple days, and was gone 6 weeks later. You never know, but much better to give yourself a chance. Things that don't resolve on their own after a week or two are worth the trip in my opinion.
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Yes and the thing is, most likely it's something benign that can be treated, and you don't have to suffer. But benign things can become bad things if you don't treat. OP really needs to go see the doc.
 
I don't know if OP is still around but it is bothering me what I said about pancreatic cancer being too late by the time you find it. It is not always incurable. There are cases (rare but they do exist) of people surviving years after diagnosis and even being "cured". I put in quotes because I personally doubt cancer is ever completely cured because I think the cause is related to immune system failure and that underlying cause is not corrected when you eradicate one incident. But it is possible to completely eliminate a specific instance.

Surgery is the best - maybe only - chance for cure for pancreatic cancer, but you have to catch it early. Here is the best educational video I have found on symptoms.


I don't want my negativity to prevent OP or anyone to stay away from the doctor thinking what's the point. If you do have these symptoms get it checked out immediately.
 
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