I am after a bit of advice from anyone that may have been in a similar position to me.
I had blood tests done towards the end of last year due to on going acid reflux symptoms. In the last 6 months I have been on the cancer pathway for investigations for throat and stomach, all biopsies came back clear thank god.
However, when my bloods were taken, all of my readings were within normal range, except my ALP liver enzyme. It wasnt very high only 139, when outside range is 120. The doctor was a comparing it to a reading that was taken 5 years ago of 72, so was wondering why it had gone up. Decided to test again after a month, when I had not had the health supplements that I regularly took. That time it had dropped slightly to, 137. Was happy to give it another check in 4 months, still off supplements, it had then gone up to 139 again. They took further bloods to see if the increase was coming from liver or bones, seemed to be liver.
Referred me for ultrasound on routine referral, got seen within 5 weeks, they found a 10cm x 5cm lesion on my liver. I then got referred for urgent ct scan which I had a week ago, just been told that they want an mri done urgently to get more details. I wasnt too worried initially as I know that primary liver cancer is less likely in a 55 year old, unless underlying liver disease is there (which to my knowledge I dont have!). But getting a little bit concerned now.
I guess I am hoping for reassurance that being referred for mri scan also happens for benign lesions too?
Also, I have no symptoms at all, other than acid reflux (biopsies came back clear following endoscopy) and all bloods consistantly within range other than ALP.
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purplecatlady1
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I have had a 4 cm lesion on my liver for over three years now. I go every six months for MRIs. They are watching to see if it grows. It has not grown in three years. So now they just want to do an MRI every year. I think when it comes to lesions on the liver. It’s more of a watch and see, than anything else. They want to catch it early. I hope that helps you and wish you the best.
ThNk you! And I wish the same for you. I was diagnosed with PBC back in 2016. I was 59 then. I’m still active and working. And for the most part, I feel good. I have aches and pains, but I attribute it to being 67. Not anything else. I’ve also learned throughout the years. Not too stressed over test results. We do the best we can. And the results are going to be what they’re going to be. . So sending you positive thoughts and good wishes.
I thought that I would update this post that I started 4 months ago, when I was searching for hope following the discovery of a large tumour on my liver. It may hopefully give someone else hope if they read it in the future.
Following my MRI scan, the doctors still were not sure if it was malignant or benign, but because of the size of it they decided to go straight to surgery instead of taking a biopsy.
8 weeks ago I had a liver resection to have it removed and today I finally got the good news that it was benign. No further treatment required.
I hope that you are keeping well and that your liver lesion is still behaving itself and not growing. Thank you for helping to calm my nerves at a difficult time.
thank you so much for letting me know. I was thinking about you and hoping all was going well. That is the best news, and gift you could have received.
they are still watching mine. And hopefully it’s continuing to behave.
You made my day with that great news.wishing you continued, good health
Can I ask how you found the liver resection? I think I might be confronted with a similar decision tomorrow & just wondering how you feel about it now with the mass being benign? I’m very conflicted.
I am feeling pretty good now, I am coming up to 10 weeks post-op, still have some tightness inside, but that isnt painful, to be honest if they said that I would always have that feeling now, I could easily live with it. Out doing lots of walking again, the only thing I am not doing yet is lifting anything heavy.
For reference, I am 56 years old and have no additional health concerns, fit and healthy. So whilst the op is still classed as major surgery, I wasnt a high risk patient.
With hindsight, even if I knew that it was benign beforehand, I would still have gone for surgery. I have a fear of cancer (lost both my mum and sister to breast cancer), the surgeon said to me that even though the tumour may be benign at present, it may change in the future, I dont have the personality to cope with that uncertainity, I would just worry myself sick.
The operation itself was naturally painful and did take a good amount of time to recover. However, the care in the hospital was great, plenty of pain control, I would do it again in a heartbeat, just to know that I didnt have an unknown 'thing' growing in me!
Do you know what your options are? Eg, do they know if it is malignant or benign?
Thanks so much! That was exact what I needed to hear… I couldn’t find anyone in a similar position to me so difficult to get a real insight into what’s happening.
I’m 40 and the only complication I have is I have ME which isn’t too bad now but I am worried about the possibility of surgery.
It got picked up as a routine blood test due to glandular fever flagging up a couple of raised LFT’s which resulted in an ultrasound where a 3.6 x 2.3cm mass was discovered. Total shock!
They thought benign… it didn’t show up on the CT scan & although they couldn’t see it all on the MRI that followed they think probably FNH. I had another MRI 3 weeks ago to try & get a better look & have been called in to talk tomorrow. The possibility of cancer is terrifying but also that if they can’t see the mass how do they monitor it? So I’m thinking either way surgery might be on the cards but I won’t know until tomorrow.
I’m so pleased you don’t regret your decision. If thats what they suggest for me it’s good to know that it did work out well for someone else.
Thanks so much & I may have more questions when I know a bit more.
Quite a similar situation to me then, a random find on the ultrasound. The doctors will guide their preferred option, even if they knew that mine was benign, I think that they would have pushed for surgery. The tumour was kind of hanging off the front of my liver, close to the main blood supply to my liver, they were concerned that it may compress the blood supply.
The thing that we have in our favour is not having liver disease, it makes surgery a better option.
See what they say tomorrow, try not to worry too much, primary liver cancer is pretty unusual in younger people that dont already have liver disease. That is what I have been telling myself in my darker days.
I will keep my fingers crossed for you, let me know how you get on.
One more thing I should have clarified, when I said that even if I knew that my tumour was benign, I would still have chosen surgery. I should have said that mine came back as a Hepatocellular Adenoma, which although it is benign, it does in some cases turn cancerous, although that is rare. That is why I would have been scared to leave it in there.
Saw the top consultant today & he reassured me it’s not cancer 🤞🏻 but they can’t decide between adonema or FNH. Isn’t atypical for either so could be somewhere between the two (it is doing something they haven’t seen before on the scans- sometimes you can see it & then it’s gone & then it’s there again etc). So upshot is I have to have a biopsy to hopefully confirm which. Given the current size 3.6 x 2.3cm they plan on monitoring & coming off the pill if it’s an Adonema. Thanks for helping keep my head on straight today, must confess sitting outside the head of departments office the nerves did kick in & I just kept thinking ‘if I need to have it removed, I’ll be ok like Annie. ‘
That sounds like when I saw the liver doctor at my regional hospital, she said that she had never seen one like mine.
Being rude, have you been on the contraceptive pill for a long time? Adenomas are quite rare apparently, but long time contraceptive use can be one of the causes. I was on the pill for 30 years due to hormone issues, only came off it 6 years ago when I turned 50. God knows how long my visitor had been in there growing.
I think in some cases if it is an adenoma, by withdrawing the pill, it might even shrink it without the need for surgery.
At least they are treating it seriously and going to do a biopsy. They wont put you through surgery unless they know its really required.
I will keep my fingers crossed for you, let me know how you get on. And if you just get worried and need a chat, drop me a line. I know the scary places that our minds take us some times.
I’ve been on the pill for 20years and I tri-cycle (3 packs back to back with one week break) so I suppose that’s the like 25 years worth of pills. It was a decision I took knowing the risks & one I don’t regret as it’s helped me with fatigue when it was at its worst. And who knows what difference it actually made, this may of happened anyway?
I got my appointment for the biopsy, next Tuesday so not long to wait. Not too nervous right now… but there’s still time lol!
Yes, it certainly wasnt a decision that I regret either, I used to have awful period and ovulation pains, to the point I used to be sick from them. The pill was a complete game changer for me, made such a difference to my quality of life.
Glad that you have got a date through for your biopsy so quickly. Keep positive, even if its an adenoma, yours is still pretty small (mine ended up being 11cm long x 6cm wide by 6cm high, hence why it had to come out, regardless if it was benign or not!).
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