Liver after resection

[diane493]

I had my PET/CT in mid Oct. and all was well. Resection was 20 months ago. 80% removed.

I saw a new Gastro today who "earned his medical degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Brooklyn Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as well as a residency in general surgery and internal medicine at Civil Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Dr. G also completed a fellowship in gastrointestinal hepatology, transplant hepatology and biliary endoscopy at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond."

So his manner was a bit rushed. Then he thumped on my abdomen and said 'hmmm'. He sat down and began to talk about the upcoming colonoscopy and moving to 3 years if all is well.

I asked about the 'hmmm' and he said something about thickening in that area but 'no masses' .... some people feel their liver when they take a deep breath.... might be skin fold, scar tissue, where the hernia repair was....

I actually went back inside the office to ask him again because I was starting to panic and he got upset and said "IT IS NOT YOUR LIVER. I'm not saying anything else. I've told you 3 times now it's nothing to worry about!"

Needless to say... with my anxiety and turning in to a hypochondriac, I thought I'd ask here.

[diane493]

I found my answer.  Since he'd mentioned scar tissue and the sensation of lung pressing on liver when taking a deep breath, I did a general websearch and came up with information about adhesions.  Adhesions don't show up on CT scans (and certainly not on PET scans) and are only treated if causing problems.  90% of surgical patients have adhesions after surgery.  I had 3 abdominal surgeries in 3 years if we include my gall bladder removal, and 2 hernias repaired during the liver resection.  Rib spreader was used in one surgery.

Adhesions (scar tissue) are only treated if they cause pain or obstruction, etc.  

[diane493]

Thanks!  I acutally rode over to my primary's office and he really poked and prodded, thumped and listened to my abdomen. He feels NOTHING.  He said possibly I had tightened my muscles or doc 'thought' he felt something and then when he went back to the area, didn't and just made the noise as a reflex to that.

We live in a tiny country town.  I've attempted to find a behavioral therapist to help me with the health fears.  Now our ins. is changing and I'll have to search again.

[ceanothus]

I think you are trying to read WAY to much into a simple "hmmm". It sounds to me like your doctor probably wasn't even thinking anything about your body when he made that sound, and it may have even been an accidentally out-loud response to some train of thought he was going over that was about his personal life and not you at all, especially since it doesn't sound like he was particularly focused on you. Since he clearly didn't want to explain it to you very well I would guess its because a real explanation would have embarrassed him by exposing his mental distance. It is practically unheard of in modern times for a specialist to actually try to hide information from a patient, if he's not telling you something it either isn't there or its embarrassingly personal.

You've been through a lot with your medical problems and it is likely that it has decreased your ability to trust your body to work right. Few specialists of this type are any good at helping one regain that lost faith or trust but you might find a psychiatrist to be really helpful in teaching you to trust your body again. You do need to be alert for future warning signs, but you might need help in finding the line between that and excessive worrying. I hope you can get there soon, as life is a lot nicer when that line is clear. Best wishes!