Pancreatic cancer symptoms? Is it?

ekim3 · New User Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 5

Hi, i'm 29 years old. Lately for the past 2-3 weeks I've been having upper back discomfort. Not pain but a tight pressure around the upper back spine/left shoulder blade area. Also my digestion isn't that great. Gas, bloated, and poorly digested stools that are sometimes pale.

I've had an ultrasound and chest x-ray done around 2 months ago but nothing came up. Same for numerous blood tests previously, no problem. My family doctor arranged for me to see a gastro specialist but the appointment won't be until August! Thats waaaaaay too long of a wait. I'm planning to speak to my doc to see if there's anyway to speed things up or if he's able to schedule me for CT scan.

My concern is do my symptoms sound alarming? I've been reading up on this forum and it's shocking me. Pancreatic cancer seems to happen so suddenly that when noticed its already too late. Can someone let me know what the deal is? I'm stressed and depressed right now constantly thinking about the worst possibility.

Wunderchu · Regular Joined: 21 Feb 2007 Posts: 29

[quote="ekim3"]Hi, i'm 29 years old. Lately for the past 2-3 weeks I've been having upper back discomfort. Not pain but a tight pressure around the upper back spine/left shoulder blade area. Also my digestion isn't that great. Gas, bloated, and poorly digested stools that are sometimes pale.

I've had an ultrasound and chest x-ray done around 2 months ago but nothing came up. Same for numerous blood tests previously, no problem. My family doctor arranged for me to see a gastro specialist but the appointment won't be until August! Thats waaaaaay too long of a wait. I'm planning to speak to my doc to see if there's anyway to speed things up or if he's able to schedule me for CT scan.

My concern is do my symptoms sound alarming? I've been reading up on this forum and it's shocking me. Pancreatic cancer seems to happen so suddenly that when noticed its already too late. Can someone let me know what the deal is? I'm stressed and depressed right now constantly thinking about the worst possibility.[/quote]Hi, my mom has pancreatic cancer and so I have been with her to a few of her meetings with her oncologist .. and from what I am aware of, those symptoms do not sound like pancreatic cancer. If I recall correctly, her oncologist said that pancreatic cancer may sometimes cause back ache because the tumor on the pancreas pushes against the spine. However, the location that you describe your backache at, seems much too high for that to be occurring [the pancreas is located at the mid-back, not the upper back (as shown roughly in the picture here: http://cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,2939,%20%203278_10175_87658_langId-en,00.html )]. So, if a tumor on your pancreas were causing you to have a backache, it would most likely occur at your mid-back area, and not as high as you describe. Also, concerning your gas and bloating and poorly digested stools that are sometimes pale.. I think those symptoms could be caused by digestive problems, other than pancreatic cancer (I'm not a doctor, so I don't know for sure). Also, when my mom's tumor was at it's biggest (thanks to God and to modern medicine, the tumor is currently smaller), she could feel a lump (with her hands) in her upper stomach area. So, I think if you can't feel any lump in your upper stomach area, that may be another sign that you do not have pancreatic cancer (although, I can’t dismiss the possibility that if is there is a tumor, it is too small to be felt as a lump)……… Bottom line is, my non-medical opinion is that you have about a 10% probability of having pancreatic cancer. However, if you decide to still get that CT-scan, I think that getting the CT-scan is a good idea, just to be sure.
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Jim5523 · New User Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

When I got Pancreatic cancer I list 40 Pounds and I got yellow jandus. I also am a diabertc. These are signs of pancreatic cancer.

rlee · Site Admin Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 245

ekim3,
Your symptoms are general and difficult to determine what is going on. I do agree an appt in Aug would seem a little too long. Proceed with further workup in the next few weeks. Good luck.
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RLee, MD

Any information provided is NOT intended to provide specific medical advice to users but rather to provide users with information to help them better understand their health condition and related care. All readers are strongly encouraged to consult with a qualified physician for answers to their personal medical questions.

ekim3 · New User Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 5

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm still going to follow with my doctor for a CT but just I want to know if an abdominal ultrasound is good enough for diagnosing pancreatic cancer in its early or middle stages?

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