Strange that imaging tests were not ordered earlier, but she is beating the odds..BD
WASHINGTON - All her life, Jamie Fear's gut had been her proverbial Achilles' heel. When other people contracted colds or other respiratory infections, she got stomach viruses. She babied her digestive system and learned to live with her sensitive stomach.
But when her symptoms increased in the mid-1990s and she noticed a persistently tender spot on the lower right side of her abdomen, Fear began a series of visits to her HMO. Each time, she recalled, she got the same answer: irritable bowel syndrome - a common, catchall diagnosis for digestive problems characterized by bouts of bloating, pain, constipation and diarrhea. There is no specific test for IBS, which is diagnosed on the basis of symptoms.
And that's what the pathologist found: a poorly understood condition called pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), a form of abdominal cancer so uncommon many doctors see it only in a textbook.
Known colloquially as "jelly belly," PMP is caused by the accumulation of mucus-secreting tissue that forms
gelatinous tumors that stick like Velcro in the abdomen and pelvis, according to Fear's surgical oncologist, Brian Loggie. It occurs after a polyp bursts through the appendix wall to spread tumors that cause swelling and impede digestion. Without treatment, which often involves aggressive surgery and chemotherapy, PMP is fatal.
I was diagnosed with this disease 4 yrs ago. With the exception of no cancer. I had a tumor that developed in my ovary, which during my last pregnancy I was in extreme pain in my stomach almost the entire time I was carrying my baby. Doctors had no idea what was causing the pain as tests could not be done. I delivered 4 weeks earlier before my due date. I had not been in pain since, but my belly kept growing... Tests were done, surgery was done, at 28, I had a total hysterectomy. It was such an intense surgery.... The doctor scraped my liver, stomach, removed all female parts, cut some of my intestines, and sent me home with hormone therapy patches to use for the rest of my life, with a 5 yr turn around. I have 3 children, and have almost reached my 5 yrs. It was not cancer, but those orange cells were very aggressive and if left untreated, the cells would have cemented around my organs and killed me. I am a survivor or a strange and rare disease. Tasha
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