Seek 2nd opinion??

[Pathfindergrl28]

I've posted on here a few times before, and thankful to all of those who have answered my questions before. I'm 35 years old, Caucasian, female. I was seeing blood & mucous in my stool last year that had been going on for a while, so I made an appt. with a GI specialist who performed a colonoscopy on me this past December 2014. During the colonoscopy he found a 1.2 cm tubulovillous adenoma polyp. Fortunately according to the pathology report it was benign, and he said it wasn't dysplastic. I felt blessed for those results. I am feeling better since the polyp was removed as well, no more bleeding/mucous. He said come back in 3 years for a follow up colonoscopy, but I felt that was too long.

I recently seen him for a follow up appt. He agreed to do one on me sooner within one year (December 2015) because I asked him to. He also ordered a Lynch syndrome blood test on me, and that came back negative. I can't find much information on these polyps in young people, and I have read sometimes they come back... I am just wondering if I should seek a second opinion at a large academic center for my future colonoscopies?? I am considering Cleveland clinic, Ohio. I have been to Cleveland clinic in the past for other appointments and really liked them. My current GI doctor is a good doctor, but after he found the polyp in me, I could tell by his tone that he didn't find these very often in people my age, and it seemed a little "out of his territory." Should I start going to a larger academic center for this, or am I being too cautious? Am I able to have my pathology slides from current GI doctor sent to a larger academic facility? If so what do I need to do? Thanks so much...

[MSJC]

Having been through all that my own experience with cancer and its treatments throw at you, I wish I had been more proactive and paid more attention to my symptoms, I could possibly have avoided a lot of pain, suffering, time, money, etc. over the last year and a half. Do whatever it takes to get peace of mind for yourself, you will never regret that decision!

[cathy123]

So glad you caught the polyp before it turned cancerous. It sounds like your gi dr is working with you. If he does colonoscopies frequently, I don't know that you would gain a ton by going elsewhere. I am sure he was surprised to find it in someone your age, but as long as he knows what to look for he should be able to identify any future polyps.

1 yr followup colonscopy is standard even if full blown cancer was found, so I think you are being proactive which is great.

[Lee]

So glad you caught the polyp before it turned cancerous. It sounds like your gi dr is working with you. If he does colonoscopies frequently, I don't know that you would gain a ton by going elsewhere. I am sure he was surprised to find it in someone your age, but as long as he knows what to look for he should be able to identify any future polyps.

1 yr followup colonscopy is standard even if full blown cancer was found, so I think you are being proactive which is great.

Agree to what Cathy said. One year follow up is the norm. If you continue to produce polyps you may need to get colonoscopies once every 1-3 yrs. My SNL produces polyps (since her early 40's) and she get scoped every 3 yrs. I was scoped every yr for the first 4 yrs when I was diagnosed. Then bumped out to every other yrs. Now I'm on a 3 yrs schedule.

So good that your GI gave you that scope.

Lee

[Pathfindergrl28]

Thanks so much for everyone's kind replies & input... I may stay with my current GI doctor (he is 3 1/2 hours away), but still unsure yet. Cleveland clinic is about 7 hours away, so it would be much further for me to drive back and forth there. I guess I will continue to think on it and decide soon. It's nice to have a forum to come to and talk about this stuff though...

[Pathfindergrl28]

Well, I thought it over & have decided to see Cleveland clinic for a second opinion. I have an appt. scheduled with them in a couple of months. I would really like to know why I had a tubulovillous adenoma so young, and want to stay on top of my health. A second set of eyes can't hurt... I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again!

[Pathfindergrl28]

I sent the pathology slides of my colon polyp to Cleveland's pathology dept. Waiting for my second opinion results nervously... I wanted to make sure the adenoma polyp they found in me in Dec. 2014 didn't have high grade dysplasia... I'll update as soon as I get my path results in. Just wanted to post updates incase my posts may help others in the future...

Update: Well Cleveland clinic got same result: Tubulovillous adenoma, no dysplasia noted in path. I feel blessed. Will follow up with GI doctors soon... Want to stay on top of this. I have two daughters, want to make sure they don't start developing these polyps young as well.

[Pathfindergrl28]

Just wanted to post an update on this post. I saw a GI specialist/colon researcher at Cleveland clinic this week for a second opinion. The doctor told me that tubulovillous adenomas aren't common in young adults, but they are found sometimes... and when they are, they are like mine. They are typically 1 cm or larger, and slightly advanced, and tend to be in the sigmoid colon (where mine was). Since I am Lynch negative, she said the likelihood of a hereditary colon cancer was less likely and that my polyp was probably a sporadic thing. She told me she felt it was safe to have a colonoscopy every 3 years, and that I could follow up with my local GI doctor for those. I had talked my local GI doctor in to doing one on me next month the last time I seen him, but I cancelled that yesterday, and moved it up to next December since the specialist thought it was safe to wait... so that will be 2 years since last colonoscopy. I'm a worry wart, waiting 3 years makes me nervous. Anyway, thanks for the previous comments & just wanted to give an update for young adults with similar adenoma situations in the future.

[LeonW]

. . . waiting 3 years makes me nervous . . .

when worried, get the scope earlier. Go to your family doctor, report blood in stool and suggest scopy.
Am in a different insurance system, cannot judge how it is in the US, but I had no problem getting the scopy *and* advancing the next CT-scan /blood works by a few months.

[Sams wife]

Well. Glad you got 2nd opinion. I'm a worry wart too. Maybe you could get your app back in dec just to not worry about it? At least there's no lynch.

[Pathfindergrl28]

Thank you both for your replies! Yes, I will definitely see my local GI doctor sooner if I start to have any issues before next scope... other than that I suppose I'll get the next scope next December 2016 (since Cleveland doctor thought it was safe), that will be two years from the first. I'll continue to update over time... I hope everyone here at Colon talk has a very Happy Thanksgiving today!

[Sams wife]

Happy Thanksgiving!!