Is a ball of fat something normal?

I noticed years ago kind of like a ball inside my stomach, just to the left
of my naval. navil. navel. Umm... just to the left of my belly button. It
wasn't too noticeable when I was bigger, but now that I'm losing weight its
starting to protrude a little bit & the two sides of my stomach are slightly
uneven. Its not quite the size of a tennis ball. I can kind of grab it and
move it around. Its just a little more firm than the rest of the fat in my
stomach.

It could be a lot of things. It could be a remnant of my umbilical hernia
and the three surgeries to correct it. It could be a big cyst or something.
It could be a ball of fat that will go away as I continue to lose weight
(which is what I'm hoping for). Or something else. Maybe something bad, I
don't know.

OK, I'm a male, 46 years old, been fat for almost twenty years and have
always carried almost all of my extra fat in my stomach. Is a ball of fat
like this something common?

I'm trying to put my doctor's appt off for a little while. The guy always
mentions my weight & I want to lose a like ten more pounds before I go to
see him next time. Also, its not real noticeable & at my present stomach
size, the doctor may not be able to feel the difference between it and my
fat. Since I've had this thing for so many years, I'm not real worried about
it, but since this ball-thing has started to stick out, I thought it'd be a
good idea to post here for a little reality check.

Thanks!

On Jul 28, 8:11 pm, "em" <i...@dun.no> wrote:
> I noticed years ago kind of like a ball inside my stomach, just to the left
> of my naval. navil. navel. Umm... just to the left of my belly button. It
> wasn't too noticeable when I was bigger, but now that I'm losing weight its
> starting to protrude a little bit & the two sides of my stomach are slightly
> uneven. Its not quite the size of a tennis ball. I can kind of grab it and
> move it around. Its just a little more firm than the rest of the fat in my
> stomach.
>
> It could be a lot of things. It could be a remnant of my umbilical hernia
> and the three surgeries to correct it. It could be a big cyst or something.
> It could be a ball of fat that will go away as I continue to lose weight
> (which is what I'm hoping for). Or something else. Maybe something bad, I
> don't know.
>
> OK, I'm a male, 46 years old, been fat for almost twenty years and have
> always carried almost all of my extra fat in my stomach. Is a ball of fat
> like this something common?
>
> I'm trying to put my doctor's appt off for a little while. The guy always
> mentions my weight & I want to lose a like ten more pounds before I go to
> see him next time. Also, its not real noticeable & at my present stomach
> size, the doctor may not be able to feel the difference between it and my
> fat. Since I've had this thing for so many years, I'm not real worried about
> it, but since this ball-thing has started to stick out, I thought it'd be a
> good idea to post here for a little reality check.
>
> Thanks!

Sure sounds like scar tissue. If it's been there a long time, it's
likely nothing to worry about. Cysts could feel like that too, but the
history suggests it is realted to you previous surgery. It would have
to be pretty noticeable for me to have something done about it,
though. dkw

"em" <i@dun.no> wrote in message news:MzTqi.2254$TW6.861@newsfe06.phx...
>
> I noticed years ago kind of like a ball inside my stomach, just to the
> left of my naval. navil. navel. Umm... just to the left of my belly
> button. It wasn't too noticeable when I was bigger, but now that I'm
> losing weight its starting to protrude a little bit & the two sides of my
> stomach are slightly uneven. Its not quite the size of a tennis ball. I
> can kind of grab it and move it around. Its just a little more firm than
> the rest of the fat in my stomach.
>
> It could be a lot of things. It could be a remnant of my umbilical hernia
> and the three surgeries to correct it. It could be a big cyst or
> something. It could be a ball of fat that will go away as I continue to
> lose weight (which is what I'm hoping for). Or something else. Maybe
> something bad, I don't know.
>
> OK, I'm a male, 46 years old, been fat for almost twenty years and have
> always carried almost all of my extra fat in my stomach. Is a ball of fat
> like this something common?
>
> I'm trying to put my doctor's appt off for a little while. The guy always
> mentions my weight & I want to lose a like ten more pounds before I go to
> see him next time. Also, its not real noticeable & at my present stomach
> size, the doctor may not be able to feel the difference between it and my
> fat. Since I've had this thing for so many years, I'm not real worried
> about it, but since this ball-thing has started to stick out, I thought
> it'd be a good idea to post here for a little reality check.
>
> Thanks!


As far as I know, fat is generally evenly distributed. It can be sort of
grainy, with small nodules, but nothing really obvious or protruding. At
least I don't think so.

1. see a doctor, not someone on USENET

2. my guess, given your history of hernias, is that it is a hernia

3. my great grandmother had an abdominal tumor for many years, 'til she died

"em" <i@dun.no> wrote in message news:MzTqi.2254$TW6.861@newsfe06.phx...
>
> I noticed years ago kind of like a ball inside my stomach, just to the
> left of my naval. navil. navel. Umm... just to the left of my belly
> button. It wasn't too noticeable when I was bigger, but now that I'm
> losing weight its starting to protrude a little bit & the two sides of my
> stomach are slightly uneven. Its not quite the size of a tennis ball. I
> can kind of grab it and move it around. Its just a little more firm than
> the rest of the fat in my stomach.
>
> It could be a lot of things. It could be a remnant of my umbilical hernia
> and the three surgeries to correct it. It could be a big cyst or
> something. It could be a ball of fat that will go away as I continue to
> lose weight (which is what I'm hoping for). Or something else. Maybe
> something bad, I don't know.
>
> OK, I'm a male, 46 years old, been fat for almost twenty years and have
> always carried almost all of my extra fat in my stomach. Is a ball of fat
> like this something common?
>
> I'm trying to put my doctor's appt off for a little while. The guy always
> mentions my weight & I want to lose a like ten more pounds before I go to
> see him next time. Also, its not real noticeable & at my present stomach
> size, the doctor may not be able to feel the difference between it and my
> fat. Since I've had this thing for so many years, I'm not real worried
> about it, but since this ball-thing has started to stick out, I thought
> it'd be a good idea to post here for a little reality check.
>
> Thanks!
>
>

"Cubit" <no@not.not> wrote in message
news:gX5ri.602$jO3.554@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
> 1. see a doctor, not someone on USENET

Of course! Like I said, though, I've had this thing for quite a few years
and I want to lose another ten pounds or so before I go see the doc. (I need
to lose the weight not just "for the doctor", but so that this thing in my
stomach will be more defined.)

There are a lot of fricken' sharp people on USENET, and I wanted to do a
little research & see if others have seen the same thing.

> 2. my guess, given your history of hernias, is that it is a hernia

Argh! I hope I'm not looking at a fourth surgery. That's probably a pretty
good guess, though. It may be some fat hanging through a rip in my stomach
muscles or something like that. Yah... yah, I do gotta see the doc.

Also, if there is a hole under this glob thing, the doc will never find it
at the level of stomach fat I have right now.

> 3. my great grandmother had an abdominal tumor for many years, 'til she
> died

Sorry to hear about your great grandmother, losing family members is really
tough. My grandparents passed away when I was young. I lost my parents about
six years ago & its the kind of thing you never really get over.

On Jul 29, 1:06 pm, "em" <i...@dun.no> wrote:
> (I need to lose the weight not just "for the doctor", but
> so that this thing in my stomach will be more defined.)

You don't have to do that, because we have medical imaging. See the
doc and ask to be referred for, say, an ultrasound.

"Kaz Kylheku" <kkylheku@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186009722.299262.19410@22g2000hsm.googlegrou ps.com...
> On Jul 29, 1:06 pm, "em" <i...@dun.no> wrote:
>> (I need to lose the weight not just "for the doctor", but
>> so that this thing in my stomach will be more defined.)
>
> You don't have to do that, because we have medical imaging. See the
> doc and ask to be referred for, say, an ultrasound.
>

my gf is saying the same thing. Uggh.

On Jul 28, 11:11 pm, "em" <i...@dun.no> wrote:
> I noticed years ago kind of like a ball inside my stomach, just to the left
> of my naval. navil. navel. Umm... just to the left of my belly button. It
> wasn't too noticeable when I was bigger, but now that I'm losing weight its
> starting to protrude a little bit & the two sides of my stomach are slightly
> uneven. Its not quite the size of a tennis ball. I can kind of grab it and
> move it around. Its just a little more firm than the rest of the fat in my
> stomach.
>
> It could be a lot of things. It could be a remnant of my umbilical hernia
> and the three surgeries to correct it. It could be a big cyst or something.
> It could be a ball of fat that will go away as I continue to lose weight
> (which is what I'm hoping for). Or something else. Maybe something bad, I
> don't know.
>
> OK, I'm a male, 46 years old, been fat for almost twenty years and have
> always carried almost all of my extra fat in my stomach. Is a ball of fat
> like this something common?
>
> I'm trying to put my doctor's appt off for a little while. The guy always
> mentions my weight & I want to lose a like ten more pounds before I go to
> see him next time. Also, its not real noticeable & at my present stomach
> size, the doctor may not be able to feel the difference between it and my
> fat. Since I've had this thing for so many years, I'm not real worried about
> it, but since this ball-thing has started to stick out, I thought it'd be a
> good idea to post here for a little reality check.
>
> Thanks!

A possibility that occurred to me is a lipoma -- see
http://tinyurl.com/3dj44r. This sounds a little big for a lipoma,
though. And, as everyone else says, you should see a doctor in case
it's something that needs treatment.

Chris

"em" <i@dun.no> wrote in message news:MzTqi.2254$TW6.861@newsfe06.phx...
>
> I noticed years ago kind of like a ball inside my stomach, just to the
> left of my naval. navil. navel. Umm... just to the left of my belly
> button. It wasn't too noticeable when I was bigger, but now that I'm
> losing weight its starting to protrude a little bit & the two sides of my
> stomach are slightly uneven. Its not quite the size of a tennis ball. I
> can kind of grab it and move it around. Its just a little more firm than
> the rest of the fat in my stomach.

Went in for a CT scan today. My sturgeon is on vaca until 10/31 (the
bastard) , will know for sure what's going on when he gets back. The doctor
and I both believe the mesh from my (third) umbilicle hernia repair opened
up on the side and my guts are spilling out. (Just in time for halloween,
too :-))

In other news, I've busted below 240 but things have really slowed up. I
need to pick up on the exercise, I think, to keep making progress and get
down where I belong. Overall, it has been a hell of a trip down from 300,
though, and I'm happy that I've gotten to where I've gotten and, even though
progress is sloooow, my weight isn't going back up. I think (but am not
sure) that 210~215 is my ideal weight (I'm tall and extremely big boned).
I'm shooting for 225, actually. Once I hit 225, I'll see how things look and
go from there.

The doc said I'd be getting a little bit of a tummy tuck along with the
surgery. We also agreed that it would be good for me to lose a bit more
weight before the surgery. I guess its time to hit it hard again.

Mike