Internal anal lump , hard about pea size under the skin

Terrified is how I feel at the moment . My anus felt a bit sore after wiping , don't know why but felt around in cas if I'd "torn it " and felt a pea sized lump under the skin about 1cm inside sphincter. I've never had piles , no bleeding , not itching either. Feels movable like a cyst but joined on , not swollen like a pile , rubbery like a lipoma . No one available on the chat lines , surgery naturally closed over xmas , can't just talk to anyone , no support , nowt. I've emailed my surgery for a request for an appointment but after the xmas break I am now going out of my tiny mind with worry. I can't turn up at A and E can I? Especially with this covid explosion. I feel desperate I only found it this evening and cannot put it down to anything else other than cancer , it just does not resemble any descriptions of internal piles , can anyone please help ?

  • Hello again , and apologies for not writing up sooner ........

    Had the sigmoid and that was ok. The worst part was the round trip AGAIN to pick up the ....enema . That was fun. The trip to the hospital takes approx an hour. The instructions on the enema were , do it an hour before - you work it out. Thankfully I did it earlier and it works within a few minutes , 2 steps from the loo all done, procedure itself very straightforward. Nurse asks you loads of questions you then go to a room and the operator and another doing the computer present . You are with another nurse that monitors you and talks to you all along. The instrument is then put in and away it goes ..... my colon according to the gent doing the examination was very healthy and very clean ( thanks enema ) , however there was nothing that he could see ?????? But he felt  Mr Lumpy and describes him as "a big pea " soooooooooo they give you a choice of gas and air or sedation , I didn't want anything as I wanted to up and go as my husband and dog were waiting in the car park . But the nurse said just have a few minutes on the gas and air " a legal high" well , I didnt feel ANY different , but hey , laid in the trolley bed had a drink of water and got dressed ready to go. Got a report and further recommendations for yet another test on a rectal ultrasound to see what Mr Lumpy is.
    The doctor couldn't see him either by looking up my nethers either . By this point I just couldn't care less , pass the car Jack and insert , have a grandstand view. 
    To summarise :

    colon healthy , further tests required.

    Tommorrw ultrasound of pelvis and abdomen as I have had this fear of ovarian/ uterine cancer etc etc for 6 and and half years but have been terrified of having the exams . I'm really getting a scared on now , but I keep telling myself that there is absolutely NOTHING I can do to change the outcome  - NOTHING I can do it will not alter it. So another day of making some new best friends and putting my bits on general display again . They obviously won't do the rectal one tomorrow , as the 2 have not been connected, although I keep telling every NHS person I come across . I just am swept along with the systems schedules and "this happens next , then this , then that"

    . I did tell the Dr in the colorectal face to face that a sigmoid would be a waste of time , but , of course he just said , that it had to be done . 
     

    so as they say ....." Tomorrow is another day "

    How is your tenant ? Has he still got set up in residence ? 
    all the best for the 25th. And speak up , don't be a wallflower ! 

  • I've got to give your hospital credit - they don't seem to be *** about so to speak! Seems like everything is progressing very quickly for you. 
    I'm 100% going to take no messing around or fobbing off. My lumpy friend is still in residence. Not changed in size but noticed he is a tiny bit sore today but I can't work out if that is because I just constantly have an upset stomach at the moment and I'm going to the loo more regularly. 
    I find it really curious they do the sigmoidoscopy before the ultrasounds. Would've thought the ultrasound can pick up masses a lot easier. I have a feeling that they won't see mine and in addition my doctor had trouble locating it! Also TMI but for my husband to have a feel because I wanted to make sure I wasn't going out my mind and as sure as eggs is eggs he felt it. Really want to know what on Earth is is to be honest. I'm like you though, can't do anything about it. Just got to crack on and hope for the best!!!

  • The hospital has been good , but they don't seem to talk to one another. In the endoscopy dept they were told on the report that I had a "polyp" !!! Where on earth did that come from? 
    I must admit I'm really fearful of what the ultrasound will find . But I'm resigned to just having to go with the flow as I'm just being swept along. No good questioning the "but what if it was because it did this or that " coz that will produce nothing positive except positive worrying. Nothing you do or say at this stage will change anything. 
    Any way good luck and here we go again ......

  • Well that has to be one of the most humiliating experiences ever.

    So not only did my doctor not take me seriously but the consultant just absolutely fobbed me off. He was so rude to begin with, we basically stood around really awkwardly briefly discussing my concerns and then when I went to lay down he asked me me what my anxiety levels were like. He suggested that my anxiety could be causing my health concerns. WHAT?! It was as though he was trying to suggest that I was catastrophising.

    Anyway, he examined me and at no point did he offer me the dignity of explaining what he was going to do. Once he finished he walked off and basically said everything looked absolutely fine and I QUOTE 'there was no lump there.' Pardon? The pea sized lump that I can firmly feel every single day apparently is some sort of figment of my imagination. I challenged him and honestly he just completely shrugged it off. He said he had no concerns, it all looked fine and that there was nothing there. When I explained to him that it most certainly WAS there he just said oh it could be some scar tissue from an old heamorrhoid. I've never had a heamorrhoid in my life.

    So to summarise hes said i have no lump, all is fine but if I do have a lump its nothing to worry about. LOL He did ask me how often I washed with soap and I explained everyday!!! He then suggested I move onto something a little more gentle on my skin to soften up my anus!

    I was genuinely just completely dumfounded by the entire experience so I marched straight to pals and reported it and then booked a private consultation straight away. I cant even begin to express how humiliating it was to be made out that im absolutely blinking crazy.

    I'm 33, I've only ever been to hospital for operations or referrals, I'm not someone who would EVER abuse the service. The only thing I can think is that it may be located in a funny area or because im so used to feeling it now it may not be so easy for them. Certainly when i am sat down I feel it far easier than if I am on my side. Whats more is I have now started getting tingling sensations in it. Not itchy or uncomfortable, just a sort of 'hi im here' pressure feeling.

    All I want to know is what on Earth it is so I can just move on and not have to think about it. 

  • Hello there ,

    what a terrible experience . How awful for you. It's bad enough thinking the worst , without some doctor whose supposed to  help and support you doing a dismissive ***** routine . I've got to say the DR that did my sig said , can't see anything but I can feel it ( having a feel before insertion of the tube )  I will recommend an anuscopic ? Look see-y thing. Do these drs really think you want to be lying there with your *** on show to the world and having a total stranger place there hands up your nethers ???

    Madness.

    I just hope that you resolve this ridiculous situation. You KNOW you've got it , after all it's YOUR body . What a complete buffoon . Sending you tons of empathetic feeling ....... and good luck ....

  • Honestly it was completely humiliating. Not even the procedure... just how I was made to feel. Like a complete and utter inconvenience. For a second bloody time. It was just so baffling, I was stood there genuinely gobsmacked thinking why one earth would anyone think I would put myself through this. I had a lump on my breast many years ago and my breast looked completely normal but there was a large lump in it. I was treated so wonderfully and had it completely explained to me and luckily it went away never to return. 
    I'm hoping that a private appointment will bring more answers but who knows. I drove away from the hospital so furious but then I started to think.. perhaps it isn't even anything to be worried about but then the voice of reason kicked in and said what if it IS something and you'd just been fobbed off. Luckily the voice of reason won on this occasion!!

  • I definitely feel that it needs to be investigated further , as your mind will go through the whole circus of "what ifs " you need to have at least another opinion . It was as you said quite humiliating lying there like a side of beef , but both the Drs I have seen at the hospital have been really courteous and polite , they also explained everything they were going to do etc. There always seems to be some thoughtless idiot though who treats you like you're a crazeeeeeee and a anxiety ridden person who cannot tell their own mind. Why are some drs like that ? My GP is a typical one of them , she might as well have the motto in a neon sign above her door " Don't worry , be happy " she's so flippant and dismissive I absolutely hate talking to her , full stop.

    don't let this arrogance scare you , book a private consultant if you can afford it , it may well put your mind at rest , or get a proper plan started. GOOOOOOD LUCK  

  • Hi did you ever get to the bottom of the lump please ?

  • Hello 

     -- presumably you don't mean any pun intended........

    the short reply is , No. 

    Being bounced about between differing departments of the local hospitals . Was referred for an endo anal ultrasound , then after deliberating the powers that be said it wasn't applicable , then referred to another colorectal department ( how many does one health authority have ? )another meeting with a professor ( yes )  he had completely all the wrong info from my lovely GP etc and was now mentioning words like "ulcer etc etc WOT??????? NOTHING is ulcerated !!!

    After a little chat and a little gloved poke around. He decided to refer me back yet again ( sigh ) in 2 months time for another poke , prod evaluation  as he reckons it's not a lump lalalalalala but is ( very ) subtle .His words not mine  I actually think it may have diminished in size but I haven't been poking it on a regularly basis , so it's hard for me to tell . He couldn't find it at first , I had to literally guide him to its precise place , but hey ? What do I know. So it is still not even identified. He said to me that if it had not gone they would investigate under anaesthetic and I was not happy about that I can tell you. So my fingers are firmly crossed that it is diminishing .
    Sorry I can't be of more help. But 4 months on , I'm still no wiser. 

  • Hi Tanksmum and Charlotte, I was just wondering how you both got on? I have very similar symptoms and an terrified  of anal cancer especially as I have a history of HPV