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2094297 tn?1345389093

just found out I have no body and tail of pancreas

  OK so I just finished up the 24 wk treatment for hep c triple tx w/incivek and went in  to do a ultrasound, I had a really experienced tech (over 30yr) and she had looked up prior mri and ultrasound before I arrived, after she told me that I have no body or tail of pancreas and asked me if I was aware (i was not) she printed up all my old reports and showed me and did not know why no one ever told me..... I am diabetic.... is this something I should worry about, when I googled it all I could find was that is was rare and most was from cancer, cancer runs in my family, so now I am freaking out again when  I should be happy......grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  Oh bye the way the liver looked really good of course she only mentioned the missing pieces of the pancreas because she has heard about it but never seen it, it was on mri and ct from last year...
Best Answer
163305 tn?1333668571
I'm not truly able to say for certain but I do know we are all different.

When they did my transplant, they found my daughter, who was my living donor, had extra bile ducts and hepatic arteries ( I hope I'm remembering the names correctly).
My point being just as some people have funny shaped ears, some have round ones, and  you have an oddly shaped pancreas.

If they found no cancer markers, I don't see why you should be concerned.
I'd think your doctor's would do testing if they thought you had cancer.

My guess ~ you are simply unique, nothing to worry about !
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2094297 tn?1345389093
Thanks I am day two with no meds and I am feeling much better, although I use the no meds generally as of course I am still taking other meds for other things... blah... but I am not real worried about the other thing, I did get a little freaked out but the internet will do that to you especially if you have been through the hell that we have, you start to look at every little thing in horror as you have been so sick for so long that it gets hard to define what the underlying problem really is, so I have a tendency to overkill an issue and study it for days almost to the point of obsession but I just feel that it is my job to find out and be informed, and they did check for cancer markers the other day, have not heard back yet, probably today, oh and by the way thanks Eric for your support throughout this, I would not have made it this far without you and all the others *my friends"
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Avatar universal
i went back through my ultrasounds and found the following.
"The pancreas head and tail are suboptimally visualized due to depth and many interfering soft tissue interfaces."
"Visualized pancreatic head is within normal limits. Body and tail are obscured by overlying bowel gas."
Perhaps the entire pancreas is just hard to see on some of us. hopefully the PC will be able to help. oh and congrats on finishing treatment.
eric
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Avatar universal
   I would get it checked out, just so you dont worry.  There should be a specific lab  test you can do, for pancreatic cancer. Talk to your Doc about your concerns, asap~
   Congrats on your liver lookin good though ~ *high fives you
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2094297 tn?1345389093
that and I am just a curious troll
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2094297 tn?1345389093
  I did get the printed reports, so from what I can tell it is rare, but I am not worrying about it too much just curious, I really am not worried, they would have said something about it as many test as I have had done and as many specialist as I have seen mri ct scans ultrasounds I have had it all, so even though it seems that I do have the strange organ, I believe that it is not to worry, but I still am wanting to know if anyone has heard of this or can tell me anything about it because being informed about your own body is half the battle.
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766573 tn?1365166466
I think if she does imaging all the time it probably intrigued her since it is rare. Like you said, she really and truly has probably never seen that before. It sounded like she was genuinely intellectually curious - though I agree with the others in retrospect it was probably not the wisest move for a technician for the reason others outlined.

The thing is you only had one aspect of what the person observed and not other details related to that organ or even the report as a whole so I am not sure the extent you can make any meaningful interpretations. I would not take this out of context (if there is one) and drive yourself crazy doing "if/then" analysis with so little to go on.

Glad this is almost over for you!!!
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2094297 tn?1345389093
  Thanks ....
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Avatar universal
I think the advice was well meaning. It was my first thought as well...I had been given some information by the tech about my u/s that was incorrect, as well.
"she printed up all my old reports and showed me and did not know why no one ever told me..... I am diabetic.... is this something I should worry about, when I googled it all I could find was that is was rare and most was from cancer, cancer runs in my family, so now I am freaking out again when  I should be happy......"
It sounded like you were worried.
Anyways, all is well, she was right, you are okay and everyone was well intentioned.
Happy Holidays Troll, glad this TX is ending for you!
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2094297 tn?1345389093
Thanks for comment but I need to make it clear the tech did not diagnose me only stated what she saw and then showed me where it was in my last mri and ct, not the actual pictures but where the radiologist had written it on the lab work, she only said something  because she had never seen that before, my Dr. never told me about it, even though it was mailed to me a year or so ago, I did not understand what it meant, I am sure that it is something that I was born with, and I am not really that worried about it as I am sure that my Dr.(about ten different ones) would have said something to me about if they were worried, I did make a call to PC dr. just to see if I should be worried it was late and should hear back tom. I have been in this rodeo of medical stuff for awhile now and I really do know better then to listen to a tech try to diagnose me, this was not the case, today I just found out something new about my body and just wondering if there are others like me....happy holidays
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Avatar universal
I had a liver transplant in June 2000. I had a serious motorcycle accident in 2005. I have had more techs work on me than I could ever remember. I leaned from my experience that it's not wise to listen to techs nor should they ever comment on what they see. They are simply not competent and generally they are not permitted to comment on tests or results. I had a ultrasound tech tell me when I asked what she saw that my bile ducts looked like there was a problem. I worried sick for 5 days until I saw my transplant surgeon. I asked him about my bile ducts and he said they're fine. I asked him if he was sure. He asked me what I was talking about and I told him. He said they were fine. This type of thing happened one more time but never again. You do what you want but I will never even look at the tech when they're doing a procedure for fear I'll assume something about the results.

Anyway, I doubt there is anything to worry about and I certainly wish you all the best.

Mike
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2094297 tn?1345389093
  This is how the MRI states from last year ( The body and the tail of the pancreas is absent.  ONly the head and the uncinate process is noted,)  So it would seem that maybe I have always had this, but when I looked up my old reports that were sent to me there it was, no one ever told me what this was nor did I know as I have no official medical training ( AIR FORCE ) training 20 yrs ago, they did run a lab for cancer today, but I think it was for the HEP C to make sure no markers for cancer in liver found, the tech did not try to diagnose me she was one of those people that really know their job henceforth checking mri and ct prior to appt. she only told me that the size of my liver is where it should be. She just happened to mention that I did not have a body and tail then she went back and printed out all of my old labs she was only curious because she had not seen that before although it still freaked me out because I did not know.  but just to let everyone know the tech did not try to diagnose me only pointed out an unusual thing ... and I am glad she did... but now I want to know is this something to worry about in the future, was it this that made me so sick, maybe it is maybe it is nothing to worry about at all, will be calling dr. just to check I have a really good Dr. so he will look into it , I just love all the people and Info from MED HELP and usually get a quick response or find someone who has been there..... thanks for the fast ups will get back later after test back and talk to Dr. although I will check later in case anyone has something for me........Trolleater
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Avatar universal
I never ever listen to techs. I used to but after one scared me to death because she didn't know what she didn't know I stopped listening to them or even looking at them when they perform any procedure. If they say something positive I'm still not comfortable until I speak with the doctor and if they say something negative I worry like crazy and often times for no reason whatsoever. Really, I think the tech was operating way out of bounds to dig up old images and discuss them with you. If the tech was concerned she should have brought this to your doctor's attention. She should not have discussed it with you.

Pancreatic cancer is a hard hard way to go and I find it unbelievable that you could have lost the body and tail of your pancreas without experiencing extreme symptoms. Since you're worried about this I would see a specialist and get a straight answer.

I also find it incredible that a prior MRI and CT scan would have shown this and no one would have seen it and discussed it with you if it was really a significant concern. I have lost family members to pancreatic cancer and, believe me, they knew very well that they were very sick. There are such things as pancreatic pseudo cysts that are frequently asymptomatic but these are often not life threatening and demand no treatment. But, from the little I know about them they would not cause the loss of pancreatic tissue.

Again, I'd see a specialist and have him discuss your image studies.

Good luck,
Mike
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223152 tn?1346978371
Interesting .  My techs won't tell me a thing anymore.  Used to be that they would let me see the screen during an ultrasound and tell me what they saw.  Now they all have to say they are not doctors and aren't allowed to tell me anything.  It is fortunate that she did tell you so you can get that checked out.  How nice it must have been to have such an experienced person.  I cannot imagine that cancer would have caused the "missing parts" without there being some current indication and apparently there was not any so please do not fret too hard. YOu could really have some serious anxiety over this.

Congrats on finishing your 24.

frijiole
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