Health Update || My Experience With Finding A Mass Growth On My Liver

Ok I promised to share kind of what’s been going on in this weird little body of mine and update you guys on surgery. I’m sharing this also for those of you who feel something is off in your body. Please listen to your body and while doctors are extremely smart and I am so thankful for them, ALWAYS get a second opinion. Sadly I just trusted a doctor I saw when I KNEW something was off. We know our bodies and we know when something isn’t right so trust your gut and push further. So here we go.

Over the past little bit I shared that I suspected I may have an umbilical hernia. I even went to the doctor thinking that must be it and he kind of disregarded my words and said that he didn’t feel an active hernia and without undergoing surgery he wouldn’t be able to find it if it wasn’t actively protruding. Cut to the past few months I kept feeling a consistent state of discomfort, when I sat down, when I moved a certain way, when I tried to exercise. During some rare times of being active like lifting or exercising I actually felt intense pain. What I will try to describe as feeling like an organ shifting in my body with pain, dizziness and nausea. The pain became so consistent that I went to see another doctor (could only get into the NP at the time.) She was perplexed when I explained what was going on and I’m sure it sounded bizarre. She referred me directly to the doctor and when I met with her I once again went over details of a constant state of discomfort, no real pain unless I do a strenuous activity and feeling like something was just there or an organ or rib was out of place. After she asked some questions and felt around for a bit she decided to do blood tests and send me for an Xray and ultrasound to see if it was organ related or skeletal. My ultrasound was on a Thursday and by the next day I had my blood panels and a phone call saying the ultrasound came back abnormal on my liver. My blood panels were also off in two areas and when I googled them they were liver related.

I set up the MRI for the following week which BTW if you have anxiety totally sucked. The abdomen MRI is much more invasive than any other one since the stomach is so complex so I was in that tiny machine breathing in and out with my hands above my head for about 30 minutes. So then I waited. Got a phone call the next day that my MRI saw a significant sized growth on my liver and two smaller ones so they wanted me to meet with a gastroenterologist. Sadly that was close to Christmas so I had to wait a week for that appointment, all while the anticipation was killing me.

Ok so I get there and the doctor doesn’t have my charts yet and I am in literal panic mode like the room is spinning waiting on him to talk. He starts talking about tumors/cysts etc on livers and said it’s fairly a common thing so I shouldn’t be worried yada, yada, yada. I’m like ok guy just tell me am I gonna die? So he’s like well let me go get your chart. Anticipation is building. He walks in the room, stares at me with disbelief and says “Holy cow this is BIG?” Just like that. At this point I am panicking. What does this mean. Finally I am spiraling and I said ok am I ok, am I gonna die? He tells me to calm down but is a large part of my liver and it’s probably benign but he has to refer me to a surgeon. I’m sent home with orders to take it easy as not to rupture this cyst. Ok feels a little better but still not receiving a whole lot of clarity on the situation or the extent of it. So I wait for the surgeon’s office to call. In the meantime my stress is at an all time high, I mean the last few months but really year has been so challenging to my family. Both financially and emotionally due to so many personal experiences I haven’t shared online. On New Years I went to the ER. Trust me I am not someone who goes to the doctor period unless I think something is wrong, especially the ER during Covid. I had been having chest pains and feeling nauseous and dizzy for a couple of days and it just escalated that morning along with a high blood pressure and pulse. They were pretty sure it was stress related which like I said would make sense due to everything that’s been going on. I have felt like one big panic attack for months. Bring on the CBD haha.

I finally made it to the surgeon. Head to my IG stories for the scoop on that. So I also got to finally see my MRI and Lord have mercy they weren’t playing. I will share a before and after picture when I have surgery on the 18th. My growth takes up pretty much my entire liver and is the size of a cantaloupe. I joke because I basically have a 34 week old baby attached to my liver, I named it Oliver. Get it? O(liver) and call him Olly for short. It’s not funny I know but I have to get my kicks somewhere. The doctor was so shocked I could grow something so big and well it’s not the extra something I wanna be known for haha. Hoping I lose a few pounds and the bloating 3 months pregnant feeling I’ve felt for awhile after this as well. Surgery is scheduled for January 18th and due to the size and risk of bleeding, I have to stay overnight in the hospital. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking out, I genuinely haven’t slept in days because of the anxiety. Surgery and anesthesia terrifies me, especially since this is such a large removal. My recovery time looks to be about 2 weeks due to risk of bleeding again and developing a hernia so any book recommendations would be superb. Ok well I think I covered it all. Please say prayers for a safe surgery and recovery and if you feel your body is off or something is wrong then TRUST YOUR GUT. Your body tells you, we just have to listen and stop being so dang stubborn.