Ask the Dr. to do a Petscan which is much better and more through that a CT. It is done with radioactivity and shows up way more that anyother scan. DH just had one done to see if there is any active cancer at this time. Results back within a week and thankfully all is clear at this time. Our Dr always cultures anything involving breathing tests. Since he is allgeric to prednisone he has to take other drugs. But then because of his medical conditions, he had another pneumonia shot, only this was a double shot with something else included to discourage cold, flue and pneumonia. I asked the Dr what was in it, but he did not give me an answer, he only said a good lung doc should know how to combine shots, depending on the person's health.

thanks, everybody. i have a bad feeling about this. yesterday when i came home, i found bloody poo in the back room. maggie has a history of coccidia although the last 2 times this happened (this is the 3rd time in just 4-5 months), the fecal sample tested negative. now i am wondering if this is a cancer that has been spreading throughout her body. if this proves to be the case, i will likely have her put down while she is under for the tests. i can't bear the thought of seeing her suffer. she has not felt well for the past few months although all of the usual tests have not been able to diagnose the problem. *sigh* i will update when i can. thank you again for the thoughts and prayers, they are much appreciated.

Gallstones are usually "pebbles" within a gall bladder. A gall bladder is really a pocket placed below your liver which actually keeps bile produced through the liver. During a meal (in particular these that contain fats or proteins), the gall bladder can develop contraction, offering bile by means of bile ducts to the intestinal tract to help digestive break down. Defective arrangement of bile brings about enhancement of gallstones. Gallstone problems is often a frequent root cause of abdominal pain, irritation, and also infection of the gall bladder as well as the pancreas. Here is a link that might be useful: Gall Bladder Symptoms

I hesitate to contribute but... I'm a physician, and thought it might be helpful to clarify some things. Believe it or not, I stumbled across this looking for info about stoves (ranges). Anyway - 1. Abdominal pain is a real challenge to work up. Sometimes, a CT scan will clearly show the problem, but often, it doesn't. I'm ER by training, and I usually tell my patients that we only get an answer to belly pain in the ER about 50% of the time 2. The best study is determined by your exam. Sometimes, no study is needed. Sometimes, it's an ultrasound. A CT with intravenous and oral contrast will better show the blood vessels and organs than one without. A barium enema is only useful in rare situations. Xrays are generally not the study of choice 3. If you can't find an answer on a CT, the next option may be treat & wait; or refer (depending on the pain). Sometimes you need to go to an endoscopy, or a gyn, or colonoscopy, or urology. 4. Pain can be functional, meaning we won't find an anatomic cause for it on CTs. Or microscopic, as in celiac disease. Or allergic, as in lactose intolerance 5. Many, many physicians are poor communicators. Even as a physician, I've experienced this, and it is beyond frustrating. If you think you're annoyed - when I am imaged, I ask for copies and reports, and I like to look at my studies myself. Usually, I get someone who will help me out but occasionally I can't see the studies, get copies or get the reports. It drives me NUTS! 6. What sounds abnormal on a report may be no big deal clinically, or at least - not an emergency. It's not ever good to get information without an explanation, and it sounds like that happened to more than one of you, and for that I am sorry. An explanation can take that "slightly enlarged liver" or "ovarian cyst" from "I have cancer" to "that's a normal variant, or normal for me." 7. There is ALWAYS someone on call at your physician's office - you should be able to reach someone who can answer questions, and you can ask to speak to the physician. Don't let the front desk feint. The earlier you call (e.g. 12 PM vs 11 PM), the happier they'll be to answer your questions 8. Your doctor might say "I don't know," and that's ok. Not because you should be satisfied without an answer, but because the answer might be - there's something we haven't found. In that case, the next best question is, "what do we do next to figure this out?" 9. In terms of physicians, nurses and the health care industry as a whole: like teachers, who have been placed under a progressively more stringent set of requirements that are difficult to meet, there has been enormous economic, regulatory and social pressure placed on physicians in recent years. Patient volume has increased such that we are expected to see more people per hour with the same amount of productivity, which is virtually impossible with the inefficient computers and regulatory hurdles. Your physician, for example, is supposed to assure the government that he's counseled you on smoking, treated your blood pressure and counseled you on your weight - even if you just came in for a sore throat. It's often hard to make patients happy when they want things that aren't medically necessary. There is increasing pressure to reduce utilization (e.g. CTs), decrease antibiotic use (antibiotic resistance) and reduce pain medication (opiate / heroin epidemic). These constant pressures and others increase stress, reduce the ability to meet real patient needs, and reduce the real access patients have. I want to do the right thing for my patients, and that's my first goal, but it's not rewarded by the system, which pushes us to check boxes, not check people. We are just as unhappy as you are. At least, those of us not fresh out of residency anyway - I hope this helped answer some of the questions I see above. Darcy, I wish you luck.