23 year old female, waiting on pathology

[Katelyn_m93]

Hello, I came across this site while googling what's going on in my body.... I'm a 23 year old female with a 5 year old daughter. Since I had my daughter, I've experienced blood in my stool off and on. I wrote it off as hemorrhoids and increased my fiber and water intake.

For the past year or so, the blood has increased in frequency with the past few months having blood in every bowel movement. (Along with mucus, bloating, abdominal pains, and feeling like I need to "go" but nothing is there but blood, tissue, and gas)

I finally got over the embarrassment and made an appointment with my PCP, who immediately referred me to a gastroenterologist. He scheduled me for a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy in the first visit.

Scopes were 9/15/17

Upper endoscopy was normal, but colonoscopy showed a mass in my sigmoid colon. The doctor said it was either pre-cancerous or cancerous and has me set up with a surgeon. He's told me I'll be having that part of my colon removed within the next two weeks, but I shouldn't need a bag if all goes well.

I don't know the size of the mass. Not sure if he told me and I was just too loopy and upset to remember. But according to the diagram he sent home, it looks to be about 5 cm? The locations he pointed to took up about 1/4 of my sigmoid colon.

I guess I'm just here for some advice and words of encouragement from you all who have been where I'm at. And also, is it a good or bad sign for them to immediately head for surgery without waiting on pathology results or any further testing?

This is just a lot for me to take in right now. And thank you in advance for your time.

[benben]

Sorry to hear of your situation as you are very young.

I was in a similar situation. Diagnosed with a larger tumor.
The MRI and cat scans confirmed the tumor and size. I also had surgery prior to complete pathology.
I did have a confirmation that it was cancer, but that is not complete pathology - just biopsy result.
Complete pathology is done after removal of the tumor. I had surgery and it went quite well.
I had 6 inches of sigmoid colon removed and about 2 inches of the upper portion of the rectum.
I had very similar symptoms as you. I had small movements of blood in stool for ages - like 15 years.
When I started to notice more blood and then mucous, I got checked. That section of the colon seems
to me to be a quite common area for cancer to appear.

It's good you had the scope and are probably pretty early on - its most likely fairly early stages.
Personally I would want biopsy results back - mine only took 3 days. I'd also suggest the MRI and CT scan so
everyone knows more exactly what you're dealing with.

best wishes to you in this journey.

[veckon]

Sorry to hear this. I recommend getting comprehensive set of germline mutations tested for, like Lynch syndrome.

[Lee]

Hi and welcome, sorry for the reason you are here.

Do you know if colon cancer runs in your family? If you have any siblings, they too should be scoped because of your diagnoses. I agree on getting genetic testing. The info could be helpful where your daughter is concerned. She may need to be scoped in about 5 years, again genetic could prove helpful there.

Getting a 2nd opinion is always a good idea. While it is not as critical (with rectal cancer) having a board certified colon rectal surgeon doing the surgery. They tend to have more experience and training. Butt again not as critical with colon cancer.

These GI doctors know cancer when they see it. I was told during my scope that they just found cancer in me. Yes you probably want to get a CAT scan to look for possible spread, CEA blood test, etc. Prior to surgery.

Good luck, sorry you had to join, butt you will find a lot of info and support here.

Lee

[Katelyn_m93]

Today has been a complete whirlwind of emotions. I was waiting on a phone call from the surgeon when a nurse called to schedule a consultation. I asked her if this was for the surgery, since she didn't say so. Her response, "No. This is for the cancer." Wait, what?? I told her that no one called me with the results from the biopsy. She apologized and said that she didn't realize I didn't know. She was going to call my GI's nurse and call me back.

I'm hysterical at this point. Boss sent me home early. I waited 3 hours before she finally called back. It is NOT cancer. Thank God. She told me it was an adenoma, but it still needs to be surgically removed. And it looks like the oncologist still wants to run a CAT scan and genetic testing.

I'm sure more testing will come after the surgery, so I'm not trying to let my hopes get too high.

Colon cancer hasn't been on my mom's side of the family, but a lot of other cancers have. (Breast, cervical, prostate..) I'm not too sure about my dad's side, but I do know that his brother died from some kind of rare cancer at 16. I don't know what organs the cancer affected. Is it possible to be genetically predisposed to getting *any* type of cancer?

And I will definitely be questioning the doctor on preventative measures for my daughter. I almost lost her two years ago to pneumonia and her paternal grandfather is currently battling Stage IV colon cancer. I don't want to take any chances with her. It's strange that I ignored my symptoms, but I couldn't imagine ignoring them if it happened to her...

I just really wish they would have been more clear with me about this process after my colonoscopy. I guess the next step for now is just to meet the oncologist (tomorrow) and surgeon (next Monday).

[Andrea1976]

Sorry you are here. From what you said - adenoma is a polyp. Large polyps can often have cancer cells. I think the larger - the more likely. Since your polyp could not be removed during colonoscopy. I am guessing you have a sessil type of polyp. Pedunculated / mushroom type could usually be removed without surgery. Please don't stress out. It still could be precancerous. You will know for sure once the whole polyp is removed. Even now if biopsy is precancerous. Once the whole polyp is removed it could have some cancer cells in it. In either case even if it's cancer - it's most likely early cancer. You can look at my signature. I had a large adenoma/polyp with some cancer cells. I didn't have to have surgery because it was low risk malignant polyp.

[Basil]

Today has been a complete whirlwind of emotions. I was waiting on a phone call from the surgeon when a nurse called to schedule a consultation. I asked her if this was for the surgery, since she didn't say so. Her response, "No. This is for the cancer." Wait, what?? I told her that no one called me with the results from the biopsy. She apologized and said that she didn't realize I didn't know. She was going to call my GI's nurse and call me back.

I'm hysterical at this point. Boss sent me home early. I waited 3 hours before she finally called back. It is NOT cancer. Thank God. She told me it was an adenoma, but it still needs to be surgically removed. And it looks like the oncologist still wants to run a CAT scan and genetic testing.

I'm sure more testing will come after the surgery, so I'm not trying to let my hopes get too high.

Colon cancer hasn't been on my mom's side of the family, but a lot of other cancers have. (Breast, cervical, prostate..) I'm not too sure about my dad's side, but I do know that his brother died from some kind of rare cancer at 16. I don't know what organs the cancer affected. Is it possible to be genetically predisposed to getting *any* type of cancer?

And I will definitely be questioning the doctor on preventative measures for my daughter. I almost lost her two years ago to pneumonia and her paternal grandfather is currently battling Stage IV colon cancer. I don't want to take any chances with her. It's strange that I ignored my symptoms, but I couldn't imagine ignoring them if it happened to her...

I just really wish they would have been more clear with me about this process after my colonoscopy. I guess the next step for now is just to meet the oncologist (tomorrow) and surgeon (next Monday).

I know you are battling a whirlwind of emotions. I also know this doesn't need to be said but "not cancer" is the absolute best thing you could possibly hear. Rejoice in it. Everything else may suck a bit but not nearly as bad as, "It's cancer and here's what we're going to do next . . . ."