[livingwith]

I had the carcinoid tumor in my appendix when I was 10. I’m 18 now. They found it after it made my appendix erupture, no warning signs. After severe pains I threw up every 30 min. on the clock. Mom took me to the hospital but all they did was stop my vomiting. Next day the pain was so bad I couldn’t walk, went to a clinic and they told me to go to the hospital right away. I had a catscan, and had to go into surgery right away, spent 6 days in the hospital. 10 years old with an ...Read the full article

[cjmurphysr]

Brynn,

The best thing you can do is talk to your doctors and have follow up tests periodically. The next best thing you can do is research the issue yourself. You already know how to use the internet - so make it your friend and do lots of reading online. It will help ease your mind and give you ammunition to use when you talk with Doctors and medical professionals.

The bad news about carcinoids is that they demand long term followup. The best thing, especially for you, is that there is a great deal of medical literature out there indicating that carcinoids are slow growing and that carcinoids of the appendix very seldom cause problems later on. While your case seems unusual to you it is not all that uncommon from what I've seen on the internet.

Life is strange - sometimes good news comes in weird forms - the good news for you is that you may require long term followup and may never have a recurrence. But - you should do your homework and make sure your Doctors do follow up checks regularly. Good luck!

CJMurphysr

[cjmurphysr]

Brynne,

I did a bit of research for you and if you read the following article you will see that you may not even need follow up, although you might for your own peace of mind. This article is by one of the experts in this area and it begins by talking about appendiceal carcinoids. Take a look at it.

See: http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/reprint/1/11/727.pdf and I think you might feel a bit better.

CJMurphysr