My husband thought he was having a heart attack. The emergency room doctors eliminated that right off and gave him a gastric cocktail as they called it and he seemed better. They said it was gas, but he's been on nexium for something else and NEVER, EVER had a gastric problem. Two weeks later he was yellow. His PCP doctor didn't pick it up even after a scan and came right out and said no tumor anywhere just blocked bile. So we were sent to a gastro doctor who sent us home to die because he couldn't place a stent in a tumor we weren't aware of. A different Gastro Dr. we called saw the tumor on the scan on his computer. There are no true signs, there is no PC in my husband's family, over 20 blood aunts and uncles and 60 cousins. Insurance companies will fight tests that we can't prove are needed so now what? Mammograms have been an issue for over 40 years and that still isn't settled. I have relatives who had breast cancer at 32 and again at 45. There is cancer in her family but not breast. Answer? Well I think that it's the doctors who should be making these decisions not the insurance companies. We know how we actually feel. My husband has been to the emergency room one time before and it was for a blocked artery 10 years prior. and he knew how he felt then and now. I really beleive that the emergency room satisfied itself, but certainly not us as we did disagree, per insurance rules. What should they have done?. Listened, listened listened and think,think think.One blood test to rule out heart attack was not enough. My husband looked like hell. A Ct scan was in order as he was in great pain in the lower belly area . We can't go back and we can't go forward without some sort of better guidelines. My husband was healthy before the pain but he had dark urine. which would have been discovered in the ER. We have to educate ourselves to what the real signs are and demand better answers if we're not convinced. Dark urine calls for tests, stomach pains calls for tests, constant indigestion calls for tests and maybe we can convince our doctors to Scan not guess, or EUS not prescribe, colonoscopy when needed not per insurance rules. It's a hard and complicated path and money rules. Our children will be watched but it will be a fight for tests. New insurance plans reward doctors for healthier patients not more tests. Unfortunately there are no definitive fast rules for PC as most of the signs come late or are confused with other issues.We need better, less signs that point that way. How much is a CA-19? We need PC specialist to better define the true signs of PC if possible, and get that message out to everyone. I don't think it's possible,but at least we have forums to help each other with questions and answers that only we know how we feel!!!!
Pat