I talked to the Doctor (a different one) and she thought I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I went to see a nurse and she had a feel around my abdomen but could not feel anything untoward. I was given some fybogel powdered saches to ease the symptoms. On Thursday that week I went to have a blood test. I was rung back the very same day and booked in to have a ultrasound scan on Tuesday 2nd of June. I was told that my C125 was very high it was over 1600 whereas it should be 36. So my problem was probably gynaecological. “This blood test checks for raised levels of a protein called CA125. It is normal to have some CA125 in the blood but the level may be higher in women with ovarian cancer” (Macmillan)
I had changed my diet quite drastically over the last month to try and ease my symptoms. So no caffeine, no cabbage family vegetables, no onions, no garlic, no legumes, no alcohol, no sugar, nothing that would ferment in the gut, no spicy foods or fizzy drinks, very little cheese and having Lactose free milk instead. I was eating loads of vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. I thought to try wheat free bread too just in case fructose fermented in my gut. I thought to have 3 small bowls of food a day. A strange sensation feeling continually full and nauseous with no appetite at all. I could eat food until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon and then felt too full to eat anything after that time. My stomach was bloated all the time. I could only get into 2 pairs of trousers and then only if the waist band was below my belly and made of soft material. My most comfortable position was lying flat on my back. When I walked I held my sensitive bloated belly.
My hope was that there was a cyst on my ovaries or some kind of endometriosis or a benign growth somewhere that could be cut out or got rid of. I thought I would have to suffer an operation of some kind.
After a very long weekend of distracting myself with books and movies and tv series and chatting to friends I had the ultrasound scan and finally met a consultant.
