Really scared (liver pain, slightly abnormal test results)

[alisando123]

Hi everyone, it’s been a while since I posted but I really need some support. 

For the past year I have been experiencing a dull ache around my upper right tummy (liver area). I put it down to my ocd because I worry about hepatitis infection and blood borne diseases. Recently I’ve been having a bit of a poorly tummy in other ways (I presumed ibs) but thought I better get it checked out and also mentioned this niggling upper right pain too. The doctor ordered some blood tests and assumed they’d come back normal. 

I got a call a few days later saying everything came back fine except one of my liver values (ALT) was borderline. It’s supposed to be between 0-34, but mine was 40 (a severely damaged liver can be up in the 1000s apparently). My doctor wants me to have another blood test in a months time, and also a potential scan of my liver. She suspects that the pain isn’t related to this, said I’ve had a similar value on this test in the past, and that most doctors would have put this level of ALT as normal. She just wants to be thorough and check me for peace of mind. I’m overweight and the doctor suspects I have a slightly fatty liver which is causing this value to be very slightly higher than it should be. 

Of course my mind is running absolutely wild with the worst case scenarios. I have been googling liver cancer non stop since last night. I keep crying. I’ve read that liver cancer can cause no symptoms until the late stages, so what if it’s just been laying dormant for the last year? I am at work and can not concentrate one bit. I’m just so scared. It could be 2 months of an agonising wait to find out whether or not I’m ok. I’m not sure what to do  

does anyone have any advice? I’m thinking my mental health could be blowing this way out of proportion, but I really don’t know how to deal with the anxiety. The pain seems worse now too (focussed on it) . Things were going pretty well in my life and now this has come out of no where  

[BelAnna]

Hi Alisando,

I'm really sorry you're having to cope with this. Remember though that common things are common and it does perhaps sound like it might be Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. I would imagine for liver cancer your enzymes would be much higher. 

I know how awful it is to be scared about cancer though as I have been struggling with a worry this week but the likelihood is that it's something else and that the OCD is playing on the doubt. 

If you can then try to do anything distracting and enjoyable to take your mind off this as much as possible. 

Edited October 12, 2018 by BelAnna

[PolarBear]

You have OCD. You Googled, a vompulsion, and now you feel worse. Think about that. Stop Googling. It's really simple, though can be hard to do. People with OCD almost instinctively run to compulsions. You must resist.

[alisando123]

2 hours ago, BelAnna said:

Hi Alisando,

I'm really sorry you're having to cope with this. Remember though that common things are common and it does perhaps sound like it might be Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. I would imagine for liver cancer your enzymes would be much higher. 

I know how awful it is to be scared about cancer though as I have been struggling with a worry this week but the likelihood is that it's something else and that the OCD is playing on the doubt. 

If you can then try to do anything distracting and enjoyable to take your mind off this as much as possible. 

Thank you for the supportive post. It’s just really scary dealing with this kind of stuff. I’m trying to distract myself and as the day has gone on I’ve felt better and been distracted by work. I agree that it’s probably something else. It’s just the pain and the likelihood of having scans is making me so scared.

i hope you are feeling ok too. It’s horrible dealing with something like this. Everything else has been so great like me and my partner have just got a new house etc, and i keep thinking it could all be snatched away  

[alisando123]

6 minutes ago, PolarBear said:

You have OCD. You Googled, a vompulsion, and now you feel worse. Think about that. Stop Googling. It's really simple, though can be hard to do. People with OCD almost instinctively run to compulsions. You must resist.

I know. Googling is my worst compulsion. It never makes people feel better  

[BelAnna]

On 12/10/2018 at 16:44, alisando123 said:

Thank you for the supportive post. It’s just really scary dealing with this kind of stuff. I’m trying to distract myself and as the day has gone on I’ve felt better and been distracted by work. I agree that it’s probably something else. It’s just the pain and the likelihood of having scans is making me so scared.

i hope you are feeling ok too. It’s horrible dealing with something like this. Everything else has been so great like me and my partner have just got a new house etc, and i keep thinking it could all be snatched away  

Thanks Alisando, I know it's so scary but just remember it's probably something benign. This is particularly the case because you had the same result in the past without it getting significantly worse and also as if the GPs have any doubt about whether something is caused by cancer they usually do a 2-week cancer-pathway referral (even then most of the people referred do not turn out to have cancer). Keep distracting yourself and enjoying time with your partner and the new house.  

[alisando123]

Thanks! I've had a scan and thankfully all came back normal! Phew :)

[BelAnna]

Yay, that's great news!