Question:

I am currently on disability for depression and anxiety and am starting to prepare to return to work. I have signed up to do some volunteer work at a local hospital and needed a physical. I have been putting off this pain on my left side and a lump there, because it comes and goes, for quite a while. Now tests are coming back that have me worried. But I am a natural worrier. I am 32 and my younger sister has cancer at 26 and has had it for 5 years. My last trip to the Drs. for my CT results said it wasn’t as dangerous as it could be, but they still didn’t know. It seems like it is going in every direction. After the Ultrasound I was told I had a Complex Septated Uterine Cyst in the lower section of myuterus. Then the Dr. told me my CA125 was elevated. This is blood work that can be a tumor marker for Ovarian or uterine cancers. So then I had a CT. This came back saying it was actually a small, rather insignificant Nabothian cyst at the base of my cervix and I also have a few hepatic (liver) cysts as well as ahemangioma in my liver. But these should not be causing me pain on the left side. So now they are sending me for a colonoscopy for my chronicconstipation as the descending colon is located there and the CA125 is still elevated. So after that test we will repeat the blood work and see what the test shows… I just don’t know what to think of all this. Should I be worried? Why would my CA125 be raised for cysts in my liver or a problem in my colon?

Expert Answer:

You have a very complex medical and emotional history and would benefit from sitting down with a primary care provider and/or the specialists to whom you have been referred and have someone  explain what it all means for your health.  When test results are given piecemeal, it’s hard for patients to figure out what to do next.

Being a natural worrier is one thing, but having lots of tests, diagnoses, lumps, and pains, is something else and you are carrying the burden of a lot of information all by yourself.

If you have a primary care doctor,  consider making  sure you have all your test results and consultants’ information forwarded to the doctor by signing appropriate release forms, and schedule an appointment to sit down and talk it all through. Having a primary care doctor such as a family doctor or an internist who will coordinate your care and talk to your specialists and to you will take the pressure off you having to figure it out by yourself.

Question & Answer source: http://communities.healia.com/?q=questions/experts/left-side-abdominal-pain-liver-cysts-and-raised-ca125-should-i-be-worried