my ultrasound tech. has me scared to death

[lmr79]

I am 47 and have always had fairly regular periods. Around Thanksgiving of 08 I began bleeding not real heavy but every time I wiped. Christmas Eve day I stopped and didn't have anything not even a period until the end of February or first part of  March I began bleeding again. It has gotten somewhat heavier and on the 13th I had a pelvic exam and pap. The PA said she could feel what she thought was a fibroid tumor and scheduled me with an ultrasound. Today I had that done and in the process the tech.  called the PA  for approval of doing a vaginal ultrasound to get a better picture. She said there was a lot of bowl  and she wanted  a clearer picture. She has me really scared she concentrated mainly on my right side and took a ton of pics. I asked her if she was seeing something bad and she said she cant  really say anything. I told her she was scaring me and I said I was scared of ovarian cancer. She asked me if I had a family history of ovarian cancer and I told her no. She was very nice but she has me so worried. She told me she would have it read and they would get  back to me. I told her I was very very scared and she told me she really cant tell me anything but proceeded to say I dont see anything REALLY scarey. but I could tell she was deffinately seeing something. How much do the techs really know? I am sure by working with it all the time they must have a pretty good idea what to look for. She was fairly young maybe 30. I have had no other symptoms other than the bleeding which I keep reading is not a common symptom of ovarian cancer although I have been constipated somewhat. Heartburn I have and have always had and I have read that if over the counter rolaids work than that is a good sign. When ever I have heartburn and take them it goes away quickly. I have always always had heartburn. Please help me with this I am so scared. How much does a tech really know about what they see? Thank you

[survivor_susie]

Hi,
I agree completely with the previous post.  It's probably nothing.  It's great that you have such a thorough tech working with you.  

I did have ovarian cancer.  The first ultrasound tech went too fast to find anything.  He just couldn't wait to rush somewhere else, I guess.  Three months later, I had another ultrasound. That tech was really, really careful.  She pushed the wand in every imaginable direction.  Then she found something other than the fibroids I had.  She found mine at stage 1.  

I hug her every time I return to that clinic!

I just wanted to reassure you that it never hurts to be ultra safe.  Have a biopsy done.  It's painless, and the recovery is rapid. They did mine through my belly button.  One stitch!

Best of luck to you.

[gls2824]

I want to preface this by saying that I'm obviously not a doctor but I know how it is to be terrified and wanting some reassurance as soon as possible.

A definitive diagnosis of ovarian cancer cannot be made without a biopsy.  The symptoms you are describing could be coming from a lot of things, most of them not serious.

If there's something there, it could be a kind of cyst or fibroid or something like that.  And the bleeding could be perimenopausal.

I know it's the hardest thing to have to wait, but my mom always tells me not to worry until I have something to worry about (ok, that usually doesn't work for me either :0))

The odds are it's nothing.  Sounds like the tech was doing a good job thoroughly examining the area for your doctor.  That's a good thing.