Polyps in my mid 25s

[Pemba]

Hi guys.
I'm new in this forum and I'm from Denmark- Copenhagen (pardon my bad English). I got so desperate finding someone with a similar case, that I ended up here, in fact I almost cried when I found you because I felt so alone.

I had for a long period been having blood on my stool and irritation around the "exit", my doctor told me it's just a Hemorrhoid but still sent me for a sigmoidoscopy. My bleeding suddenly stopped all of a sudden, so waited 6 months for my sigmoidoscopy. The doctor was really old, all his instruments were outdated, but I chose him myself because he seemed competent. The doctor didn't find anything, but the bleeding didn't stop. All around me told me it was nothing at all, but after a year my doctor told me, "we have to to something you shouldn't bleed". I went for a new doctor and got a sigmoidoscopy a couple of months ago, the doctor just went in and instantly found a "big fat" (15mm) polyp, I was shocked even the nurse seemed shocked and asked for my age.

The polyp was 15mm tubulovilløst low-grade neoplasia without cancer. ( don't know if you have the same medical words, sorry)

Today I went for my big colonoscopy I did it without medicine CAN NOT BE RECOMMENDED And they did not found anymore polyps or other nasty stuff. But I'm still frightening and have so many questions, why me ???! Is the first thing. The only person I can relate with is my 75 year old grandpa who had four big polyps without cancer. I made a doctors appointment for next week, just to talk. I'm really afraid my body's turning against me and I will develop cancer some random place.

[veckon]

Hi guys.
I'm new in this forum and I'm from Denmark- Copenhagen (pardon my bad English). I got so desperate finding someone with a similar case, that I ended up here, in fact I almost cried when I found you because I felt so alone.

I had for a long period been having blood on my stool and irritation around the "exit", my doctor told me it's just a Hemorrhoid but still sent me for a sigmoidoscopy. My bleeding suddenly stopped all of a sudden, so waited 6 months for my sigmoidoscopy. The doctor was really old, all his instruments were outdated, but I chose him myself because he seemed competent. The doctor didn't find anything, but the bleeding didn't stop. All around me told me it was nothing at all, but after a year my doctor told me, "we have to to something you shouldn't bleed". I went for a new doctor and got a sigmoidoscopy a couple of months ago, the doctor just went in and instantly found a "big fat" (15mm) polyp, I was shocked even the nurse seemed shocked and asked for my age.

The polyp was 15mm tubulovilløst low-grade neoplasia without cancer. ( don't know if you have the same medical words, sorry)

Today I went for my big colonoscopy I did it without medicine CAN NOT BE RECOMMENDED And they did not found anymore polyps or other nasty stuff. But I'm still frightening and have so many questions, why me ???! Is the first thing. The only person I can relate with is my 75 year old grandpa who had four big polyps without cancer. I made a doctors appointment for next week, just to talk. I'm really afraid my body's turning against me and I will develop cancer some random place.

Woohoo for no more polyps! If the removed polyp was not cancerous, you are fine. Polyposis happens, and if you are especially vulnerable to it, you should be on a regular colonoscopy schedule as determined by your doctor. Get tested for Lynch syndrome too. You’re fine, congratulations on going to the doctor and getting checked out. 15mm isn’t that large by the way, so don’t worry.

[Pemba]

Thanks !

I think I needed some perspective, no 15mm is properly not enormous, but on the camera it seemed like a monster. I'm scheduled for a checkup in three years time, and if they don't find anything next will be i around five!

I will absolutely discuss getting tested for Lynch-syndrom. non in my near family have been suffering from cancer, but I don't have contact with my dads side of the family.

[WriterGirl1969]

Hi guys.
I'm new in this forum and I'm from Denmark- Copenhagen (pardon my bad English). I got so desperate finding someone with a similar case, that I ended up here, in fact I almost cried when I found you because I felt so alone.

I had for a long period been having blood on my stool and irritation around the "exit", my doctor told me it's just a Hemorrhoid but still sent me for a sigmoidoscopy. My bleeding suddenly stopped all of a sudden, so waited 6 months for my sigmoidoscopy. The doctor was really old, all his instruments were outdated, but I chose him myself because he seemed competent. The doctor didn't find anything, but the bleeding didn't stop. All around me told me it was nothing at all, but after a year my doctor told me, "we have to to something you shouldn't bleed". I went for a new doctor and got a sigmoidoscopy a couple of months ago, the doctor just went in and instantly found a "big fat" (15mm) polyp, I was shocked even the nurse seemed shocked and asked for my age.

The polyp was 15mm tubulovilløst low-grade neoplasia without cancer. ( don't know if you have the same medical words, sorry)

Today I went for my big colonoscopy I did it without medicine CAN NOT BE RECOMMENDED And they did not found anymore polyps or other nasty stuff. But I'm still frightening and have so many questions, why me ???! Is the first thing. The only person I can relate with is my 75 year old grandpa who had four big polyps without cancer. I made a doctors appointment for next week, just to talk. I'm really afraid my body's turning against me and I will develop cancer some random place.

Hi Pemba!
So sorry you needed to find this group, but so glad you did! There are lots of people here with great information to share. And as you noted, it's nice to have others to talk to with the same thing as you.

First of all, congrats on your polyp not being cancerous! I'm really glad for that, especially since your medical providers took so long to actually find the polyp. It's true that 25 is young to have a polyp, but it's not unheard of especially if it runs in your family. You can have a tendency to get polyps. As long as you get checked regularly, you can be fairly confident you will catch them before they will ever turn into anything nasty, since most of the time colon cancer is a very slow-growing type of cancer. So good job on being proactive, and keep up the good work! I'm sure your new doctor will recommend you get checked every so often (maybe every 2-3 years, or even once a year for a bit). Don't be afraid to ask questions about why, and bring a notebook to write down the answers so you can go over them later. It's hard to remember when you're discussing such a nerve-wracking topic.

As far as lynch testing, I'm not sure, but your insurance may not cover testing for that if your results were normal / non-cancerous. You can certainly ask, and it can't hurt to know as it will just help the doctors to know better how to manage follow-up care.

Anyway, hope some of this helps, and I'm really glad that you can at least breathe easy on your current situation!

Smiles, Hugs and Prayers,
Tracy

[Pemba]

Hi Pemba!
So sorry you needed to find this group, but so glad you did! There are lots of people here with great information to share. And as you noted, it's nice to have others to talk to with the same thing as you.

First of all, congrats on your polyp not being cancerous! I'm really glad for that, especially since your medical providers took so long to actually find the polyp. It's true that 25 is young to have a polyp, but it's not unheard of especially if it runs in your family. You can have a tendency to get polyps. As long as you get checked regularly, you can be fairly confident you will catch them before they will ever turn into anything nasty, since most of the time colon cancer is a very slow-growing type of cancer. So good job on being proactive, and keep up the good work! I'm sure your new doctor will recommend you get checked every so often (maybe every 2-3 years, or even once a year for a bit). Don't be afraid to ask questions about why, and bring a notebook to write down the answers so you can go over them later. It's hard to remember when you're discussing such a nerve-wracking topic.

As far as lynch testing, I'm not sure, but your insurance may not cover testing for that if your results were normal / non-cancerous. You can certainly ask, and it can't hurt to know as it will just help the doctors to know better how to manage follow-up care.

Anyway, hope some of this helps, and I'm really glad that you can at least breathe easy on your current situation!

Smiles, Hugs and Prayers,
Tracy

Thank you so much Tracy, I'm really grateful for the kind replays.

It might be a universal system, but in Denmark we grade polyps.

High risk = 1 year checkup
Medium risk = 3 year checkup
Low risk = 5 year checkup

Because of its form and it being over 10mm I'm at Medium risk, and need a new colonoscopy in 2020. Then if no more polyps appears I'm at low risk.

We have universal healthcare in Denmark, but I still need to match some criteria before getting a gene test. Like more than two in your close family having colon cancer before 40-50 years. I don't really match this but we don't have contact or knowledge of my dads or his family history of sickness.

I really hope this was just a random freak accident, and now that I'm "under control" I don't really fear colon cancer that much, but I fear being prone to cancer other places in my body. I'll ask my doctor about this when i see him next week. It really doesn't help that I'm a anxious person in general

[WriterGirl1969]

That grading system / follow-up schedule makes sense. Glad to hear they'll keep an eye out.

Yeah, I kind of thought that might be the case. Even outside of universal healthcare I think someone might have to hit something more as a qualifier before most insurances would cover lynch testing. The good news is that what this really means is that you aren't in a risk category. That's great news, really.

I know it's hard - I have family that have some anxiety issues, especially when medical issues come into play. Don't be afraid to ask for some help with that if you need it, but hopefully just knowing that you are in a good place, and that they'll monitor you appropriately is GREAT.

Keep the faith. We're with you.
Hugs, Smiles and Prayers,
Tracy

[steiconi]

Well, you could look at this as a wake-up call. If you get your scopes regularly, polyps will be removed before they have a chance to become cancerous. So...you'll probably never get colon cancer!

and your English is excellent! Much better than my Danish.

[veckon]

Contact memorial Sloan kettering’s genetic counseling center. For possible lynch syndrome and other germline genetic mutations they are researching, they will sponsor your genetic testing if insurance and/or your government won’t pay. It is important research, so they have the funds to offer it to some people who cannot pay for it themselves.

[Pemba]

Contact memorial Sloan kettering’s genetic counseling center. For possible lynch syndrome and other germline genetic mutations they are researching, they will sponsor your genetic testing if insurance and/or your government won’t pay. It is important research, so they have the funds to offer it to some people who cannot pay for it themselves.

I agere its very important, but I don't seem like I can contact them when I don't live in the states. But I absolutel talk to my doctor about my possibilities within Denmark, and if not the government covers it, look into paying for it myself.

Well, you could look at this as a wake-up call. If you get your scopes regularly, polyps will be removed before they have a chance to become cancerous. So...you'll probably never get colon cancer!

and your English is excellent! Much better than my Danish.

Thanks for the positive feedback, I really needed that. I know you guys are fighting much more significant illnesses and I feel sorta ungrateful for my "happily situation" but this felt like a hose kicked me in the face and tricked my anxiety.

I would be very surprised if where semi fluent in Danish

[DarknessEmbraced]

I'm glad that your polyp was benign and that no more polyps were found during your colonoscopy!*hugs* I agree with everyone that it would be good to get tested for Lynch Syndrome.