My Colonoscopy Results..

My mother is recovering from a resection of a poorly differentiated tumor which obstructed her ascending colon. She is doing well post-surgery. Amazingly no lymph nodes involved out of 23 resected. (Though she had vascular invasion.) Her doctor said to me, "Run, don't walk, and get a colonoscopy. You're 48."

I had never thought about it but had symptoms myself which I'd attributed to Lyme disease (which I have)...persistent diahhrea for a couple years, bloating, really thin or flat stools. Had a fecal occult which was negative a few months back. Anyway, I scheduled the colonoscopy and had it Wednesday.

The prep wasn't so bad, I used Half-Lytely. It reminded me of Gatorade Gone Wrong. Doc allowed me coffee in the morning.

My last recollection was having a hard time forming sentences!!! Next thing I knew, they were waking me up, saying I was all done! I don't even recall anyone touching me! Who could complain about such a procedure? For anyone reading this who hasn't had one, there's NOTHING to be afraid of. I had Demerol and Versed in my IV. "Conscious sedation." Ask for it!

Their findings (I wrote this down on a pad since I knew I would forget due to the drugs) were that I had diverticulosis (mild). Also they found and removed a sessile polyp in my sigmoid colon. I have read the sessile polyps are not the best kind to have and are sometimes malignant. They sent it out for biopsy. They said I might bleed a bit and I did spot a tiny bit later but there was no pain whatsoever.

But what an awesome thing to have discovered this possibly malignant thing before it had a chance to develop into cancer low in my rectal area!!! Even if it proves to be malignant at biopsy, they will just do another colonoscopy in a few months to ensure they got it all.

Please, everyone, don't be scared of colonoscopy or put it off. It is seriously a walk in the park and could save your life. I will feel forever like it just might have saved mine -- especially in view of my mom's colon cancer. It is hard to complain about a test you didn't even feel, fer cryin' out loud! Just go do it!

My best to all,

Michelle