My whole world has been turned upside down in the space of 10 days. I had an MRI as part of a routine scan on something to do with my hand. Got called back in as an emergency to see my Neurosurgeon consultant. Two tumours found in the verterbrea of my spine. He explained benign ones are very common but that they were concerned with the appearance of these. Next step was to have a CT scan. Get my results tomorrow - it's been 10 days of utter fear and dread. At first although it was a shock I wasn't as worried because I don't have any symptoms! I read that cancer usually metasises to the spine from the breast or lung in women and... I have no symptoms! Then I realised all of a sudden two days ago that I've been having excessive burping for about 6-12 months (which I noticed because I never, ever used to burp for about 30 years, then started). I've always suffered from acid reflux but never thought much of it. Now I have this horrible, horrible feeling about it all and can't function or concentrate on anything. I'm a just-turned-40 year old female who doesn't drink or smoke and not overweight, so I guess cancer of the esophagus isn't common - but can still happen. What has made my worry worse is that the consultant didn't say "bengn tumors are very common but we need to make sure" - he seemed very solemn and non-committal abot it all, plus everything I've read says an MRI is the primary diagnostic (over a CT scan) for cancer of the verterbrae, so that has compounded my worry. I live alone, family live a long way away and have never felt so alone and frightened. Would really appreciate any advice or words of wisdom!
