Before my appointment with the gynecologist, I stopped by the hospital to pick up the films from my abdominal/pelvis CT scan. They were brought out to me in a whopping 18″x15″ envelope. While I was at the hospital, I figured I’d pick up my mammogram films from last year too. Having these images for my own records is fascinating. Now I can pretend to be a radiologist and self-diagnose. Doctors just hate people like me.
After poring over the films tonight, I finally figured out where the fibroid was. The reason I’m so sure is that on one picture, the large gray oval that I believed to be the fibroid had two intersecting perpendicular lines artificially drawn on top of it. The size of the oval also seemed to line up with the radiologist’s report on the size of my fibroid, according to the “5 cm” legend on the picture.
My first impression is that this thing is so big. It takes up, like, half of my body on that particular slice – starting from my front and reaching almost back to the spine. Now I know why it protrudes from the front of my body; my spine is getting in its way on the other side! Also, given that the fibroid was reported to be 12 cm tall, and that I think I see it on 22 slices, I figure the slices must be 5 mm apart (approximately – untrained eyes, after all).
My second impression is that overall, it is remarkably symmetrical, clearly outlined, and evenly colored, except for the top and bottom, where the slices get fuzzy.
Given that I’ve pinpointed the fibroid, you’d think I’d be able to figure out what blob represents the uterus, but apparently not. I’m curious to know if the fibroid is attached by a stalk. I do see a trapezoidal/squarish blob. Is that the uterus? my bladder stretched to its limit with oral contrast?
The mammogram was less interesting. The 2007 report mentioned a suspicious 10mm low-density nodule, but said it was stable as compared to the 2002 image. I think I may have found the nodule on the film, but I’m not entirely positive. This fibroid sure makes a 10mm low-density breast nodule seem uninteresting in comparison.
Filed under: fibroid, fibroids | Tagged: CAT scan, CT scan, diagnosis, mammogram, size, tests
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