Pre-Cancerous Polyp, I'm 27

[NWgirl]

Wow - you are one lucky lady. I'm glad you pushed for the scope and got that thing out of your colon! My only other suggestion would be to make sure your OB/GYN knows about this so they can be extra vigilant in keeping an eye on your female organs, and of course make sure you go in annually for PAP's and so forth. And of course the genetic testing if insurance will cover it - I think it's kind of pricey w/o insurance coverage. My oncologist was able to do some basic genetic testing and get it paid for - beyond that I decided not to pursue it, as except for my father, we can't find anyone else in my family (either side) that has a history of cancer. Could be me and my Dad were just unlucky.

Oh - and one last thing - don't keep this a secret. Tell your friends, family, co-workers - whoever will listen. Why? Because for most people "poop problems" are too embarrassing to talk about and they delay calling their doctor about issues with their bowels and/or rectal bleeding. Make others aware that it's okay to talk about this stuff and that by ignoring a problem like this it could have been much, much worse. With appropriate follow ups, I hope you never have to hear the words "you HAVE cancer". Best of luck to you!

[weisssoccermom]

Catherine,

One other thing to point out. Make absolutely sure that your brother gets checked out and make sure he stresses to the doctor that not only did his father have polyps but his sister as well. As you stated, the doctor may not be concerned that a 63 year old had polyps removed but, for your brother and any other siblings, having a sister your age AND a father both with polyps should send up huge red flags to the doctor that would indicate that all children in that family need to be tested. Too often, the patient doesn't realize that it isn't just colorectal cancer that we must inform the doctors about. That nasty little polyp you had would have turned into cancer had it not been removed. Families with histories of polyps, whether benign or precancerous or both are at increased risk so make sure he gets checked out. Finally, you should make sure to keep seeing the doctor. Your next scope (sorry I can't see your initial post so you may have already said this) shouldn't be more than two years from now. Even if the next one is perfectly clean and the docs allow you to go three years, you should NEVER be allowed to go more than five years in between scope from now on. You may never have another polyp in your life but why take that chance. Be vigilant and inform every doctor about your family and personal history.

Thank goodness you got scoped and found that nasty little bugger. BTW - women, particularly those who have had babies, seem to have this 'hemorrhoid' thing according to the doctors - even if you had a baby 15 years before!!! Just seems like a might convenient way to explain away things!

Take care.

Jaynee

[Uncertain Future]

I was about 30 when I started developing pre-cancerious colon polyps. One was 5cm and they were able to shrink it and remove it without surgery. I kept getting them and then at 33 had my son and at 34 had my colon removed due to a few hundred colon polyps. Now they are developing on my rectum and might have to have my rectum removed and a possible/probable j-pouch or BCIR. Now my doctor is not a surgeon but he says that I that with having my whole colon removed and a lot of my rectum removed that I might actually do good with the J-pouch and might go to the bathroom less than I am now. I go about every 2 hours or so depending on eating and what I am doing. I am 39 now. Never heard of Lynch Syndrome before today but looked it up and hope I dont have it but I am going for genetic testing and to see if my small intestine is free of polyps. I heard that even non cancerous polyps can even become cancerous with time and to make sure they are removed too. I just left my doctor and chanced to a new one cause he didnt think they were to worry about and now they are turning precancerous a year later. Talk about feeling bent over by my doctor, never should have trusted him to come back after a year. I recommend getting checked as often as you want and not leaving your doctor to make the decision for you. I'm glad I know about the polyps because of my son who is 5 but if he hadn't come into my life and think I would have like to have not known. I only say that because its a constant worry and I always fear when I get checked. Right now my stomach has been in knots. I was having so much abdominal pain from a mix of stomach upset and my period and not eating lunch that I almost passed out 3 times at work.

My surgeon thought it might have been a genetic mutation that cause my cells to mutate while I was pregnant. Thereby causing me to going from developing a few every 3 months to a few hundred in a year. He also told me that my son would need to start getting tested when he hits puberty because that is when they can start to develop and other doctors I have seen also recommend it.

[Terry]

It means you are one LUCKY person! I'm so glad you went in and had it done. You said that the results are worse than the prep. I don't think you realize, the results for you were better than the prep. The reason is you got that bugger before it became cancer! My brother who was 33 when I was diagnosed had five polyps and all were precancerous. Lucky for him I got cancer or he would have been in BIG trouble. He only has to go every three years, I wonder why your doc has you going every year? I would check into that since polyps are slow growing, every year seems like overkill. Even I don't have to go every year and I have stage IV.

Congratulations on getting that thing out of you! Try to encourage your family members to get their scope done, it could save their life!

Terry

[SkiFletch]

Uncertain Future, I hope you read this reply. You are lucky for sure, that's awesome. It sounds more like you have Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, FAP than Lynch syndrome. FAP shows itself as multiple frequent polyps throughout the colon/rectum. Lynch is more typically categorized with single lesions and flat lesions more concentrated in the ascending colon and not the rectum. Might want to ask your geneticist to test for FAP as well as Lynch

[Popcan]

I am also a 27 year old female who just had a colonoscopy. They found 3 polyps, 2 which they removed and one which was double the size of the other two which they only biopsied. All they told me was they were "concerned" about that one. Does that mean they think it's cancerous? and does anybody know why it takes 3 friggin' weeks for the results?? It's kinda scary. Do all polyps that are found have to be removed or is it ok to just leave them if they're not cancerous?

[NWgirl]

Popcan - I'm guessing your question has gotten lost as this original post was so old. You might want to start a separate thread (post) to address your questions. I'll be happy to share my understanding of your situation, but others may have more to offer as well.

My surgeon seems to know which polyps are "of concern" and which are of "less concern or no concern". She does LOTS of scopes and has for years - I imagine with the experience she has and all the polyps she's seen, she has learned just by looking at them, which ones are problems. That said, she (and any doctor removing polyps) will ALWAYS have them biopsied. Pathology reports generally take about a week; I'm not sure why they told you you'd have to wait 3 weeks; that seems very excessive and I would definitely push for the results sooner. I'm not sure what your doctor meant when they said they were "concerned" about the one polyp - but definitely follow up - of course. If it was removed during the scope, even if it was cancerous, it sounds like it was caught early enough so you might not require any additional treatment - i.e. just removing the polyp.

All polyps should definitely be removed. Not all polyps turn into cancer - but all colon cancer starts as a polyp. Doctors don't always know which polyps will turn into cancer - so they should all be removed. There's no reason to leave them in there - they're of no benefit to your body. As my surgeon explained it to me, a polyp - and the cells within it - have to go through a lot of different stages before it turns cancerous. The polyp you had removed could end up being classified as "pre-cancerous" as well - meaning it was headed in that direction, but wasn't technically considered cancer yet.

I hope you read through all the posts on this thread - lots of good info here, especially since you are so young. I'm glad you got these polyps removed, but I would have a long talk with your doctor about what they found in the polyps removed and whether you need additional testing for FAP, Lynch, etc.