I have developed a rather mysterious pain in my stomach. Well, not in my stomach, so much as in the area just above and to the left (my left) of my belly button. It's not deep inside of me, but it's not topical, either. I'd show you a picture of where, but I'm a woman who has carried and given birth to four children. Some pictures are just better unseen.
Anywho, it's not a constant pain. But when I move in certain ways, or when I carry Tess against me, it kinda burns and feels a little stabby. Oh, and when I cough or laugh hard, too. The area isn't red or inflamed or anything, and when I press on it nothing feels weird underneath. Oh, and the pain is localized; it's not like a sore muscle or something like that. Do you like how I doctor myself? Hey, you know you do it, too.
I started noticing it last night. I decided to use WebMD's symptom checker, which promptly diagnosed me with diverticulitis. This tickled me pink because they were always talking about diverticulitis on ER, one my most favorite shows ever. So now I go around and complain to people (mainly Lance) about my diverticulitis, which I find extremely funny but no one else does. This is ironic, because if I were to really be diagnosed with diverticulitis I would probably not find it very funny, but everyone else would because I joked about it. Hmm.
So my question is this: how long do you usually wait before going to the doctor when you have a mysterious pain or are sick or injured?
For me, it depends on a variety of factors: how bad the pain is, how serious I truly think the problem is, how cheap I'm feeling (do I really want to pay that co-pay or deductible?), how much effort it would take to find a babysitter... things of that nature. I'm much more inclined to take my kids into the doctor for little things than for myself. If it's a cold or the flu, I generally wait it out because what can a doctor do to help? Nothing. (Although last fall I probably should have gone in seeing as how I had a REALLY nasty cold for two months. Ah well, I survived.) But then again, I promptly go to the doctor if I think I have an ear infection coming on. It's a thin line.
So. Hypochondriac or doctor-averse? Which side are you on?
p.s. If this pain doesn't go away in a day or two I'll make an appointment. Just in case you were worried.
6 comments:
Do you think it might be your gallbladder? I had to get mine out a few years ago and had similar symptoms.
by the way--I can NEVER do those darn character verifications. It always takes me more than one try.
well, my hands have been feeling weird off and on for at least over a year. stopped wearing my watch when i was pregnant with lydia b/c it made my hand/fingers hurt when it pushed on my wrist. a few weeks ago I asked my sister if her fingers ever felt tingly after wearing a watch and her rings for a day and her answer basically said, "are you crazy, that's not normal. go see a doctor." I keep meaning to but if I don't wear the watch or ring too much and don't type too much it's fine ... ... such rationalization. I really should just go in.
Derrick was in the ER for some pretty bad abdominal pain last month. It turns out he has diverticulosis (although we think what was causing the pain was something different since it wasn't diverticulitis). So anyway, I just thought it was funny to read about it here. He's on a high fiber diet now and that's about all you can do about it.
I went to the doctor yesterday for some miserable sinus pain I've been having. And that I had about a month ago for a couple of weeks. Virus. Take it easy.
Grrrr. I'd debated canceling and using my co-pay money to buy a dress at Target. Totally should have. That will teach me to try to take care of myself!
I'm with you on the ear infection thing. I had one a year or two ago, and it was the single most painful thing I have ever experienced. (Well, except the after-cramps the day after giving birth to my third child.) Good luck!
My husband always has to practically kick me out the door to see the doctor. I usually wait out colds until I end up with strep or a sinus infection; a couple years ago when I almost passed out from weird stomach pain while I was teaching I made the mistake (so I thought) of mentioning it to him and he drove me to the ER and I ended up having surgery a few days later for a hernia (because nothing says "welcome to your third trimester!" like abdominal surgery). And I FINALLY went in after years of knee pain and guess what, my patella had found itself a new home. That will teach me to "just run through it."
Anyway--I'd give it a couple of days and then go in if it's worse or staying the same.
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