QuestionQUESTION: I am a 22 year old female in good health. I went to see my doctor for right sided abdominal pain. He thought I'd pulled a muscle on or near my iliac crest because that's where my pain was. I had a CBC and a U/A done and they both came back normal. He suggested I refrain from exercising and lifting kids until it got better. He also had me taking 800mg Ibuprofen 2-3 times a day. It has been 4 weeks since and it's still very painful. The ibuprofen barely helps at all so I've stopped taking it. When I went back today, he told me he felt what he thought was an egg sized lipoma. What does this mean? What tests will I need to do next? Is this something I should be concerned about and what treatment options are available to me?
ANSWER: There are a lot of things in the R lower abd/pelvis.... ovaries, urinary tract, appendix
A lipoma should not cause these symptoms... that is a wad of fat in the sub cutaneous tissue with it's own sheath but these don't cause significant pain.
I would have a normal pelvic pain workup which includes the already done cbc, ua. Check pregnancy, possibly an ultrasound of the ovaries.
I hope this helps.....
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QUESTION: I was sent to see a surgeon yesterday who said I either have a hernia or a large lipoma and scheduled me for surgery next week for a right quadrant abdominal exploration. What does this type of surgery consist of? How big will my scar be? How long will recovery time be? Is this something I can be awake for or do I have to be under general anesthesia? Also, it's kind of a stupid question, but I've heard that when a person is intibated there is a small risk that they're vocal cords can be permanently damaged. Is this true? I'm a singer and would really like for this not to happen. Thanks!
Answerthis is done under general if they are looking in the belly.... if he does it with laparascope, then the scars are really tiny and should heal almost invisibly...... but... if you got something bad down there, you need to deal with it... tell them to be careful around your cords.... It is really rare to have cord damage from elective treatment like this.....
