question from a new member

[russellmark]

Hi. I am a new member and have a question about my own colonoscopy. I am 54 and had my first colonoscopy six months ago and a 'large precancerous polyp was removed, plus two small ones that had no cancerous symptoms. The Doctor told me to have another colonoscopy in six months which I did last week and two new 'small polyps' were removed and I am now waiting for the results from those.
My question is, would the two new polyps have grown in six months or are they more likely to have been missed by the doctor the first time?

Thanks

[peanut_8]

Hi russelmark, welcome to Colon Talk.

I'm not a dr, butt am going to guess that the two new polyps were there before, and due to the size of the large one, were undetected. Your colonoscopy dr. must have suspected that something could have been missed, and wanted to recheck at the 6 month mark. In general, polyps don't grow very fast.

Best Wishes,
peanut

[ANDRETEXAS]

I had a colonoscopy in 2008. The doctor who performed it said I was clean as a whistle and come back in 10 years (2018). I went to the ER is 2014 for an entirely different matter (which turned out to be nothing) but the doctors found out that I had anemia. Another colonoscopy was performed, and a FLAT polyp was found in my cecum. So it was apparently missed in 2008. The result as you can see below is history. You can never be too careful, and in my case, be absolutely certain that all the polyps were located. I had a colonoscopy one year after my surgery (2015), and another one three years after that (April, 2018). I was clean, but am scheduled for another one in 5 years. Andre

[O Stoma Mia]

Hi. I am a new member and have a question about my own colonoscopy. I am 54 and had my first colonoscopy six months ago and a 'large precancerous polyp was removed, plus two small ones that had no cancerous symptoms. The Doctor told me to have another colonoscopy in six months which I did last week and two new 'small polyps' were removed and I am now waiting for the results from those.
My question is, would the two new polyps have grown in six months or are they more likely to have been missed by the doctor the first time?

Thanks

I do not know the answer to your specific question, but I have a few thoughts.

• First, it appears that your doctor is following a protocol similar to the one recommended by MD Anderson Cancer Center. This protocol requires a followup colonoscopy in 6 months in certain circumstances to check whether the large polyp removed during the original colonoscopy was in fact completely removed.
  
  You can read about the colonoscopy followup protocol by downloading the MD Anderson 7-page PDF file entitled:
  
  screening-colorectal-web-algorithm.pdf
  
  You can do a Google search to find this particular file on the Internet, and then you can see what the recommended next steps would be in your case
  .
• Second, your original colonoscopy report should have included all of the details about the large polyp that was removed. Was the polyp a pedunculated polyp removed piecemeal, or was it a sessile polyp removed piecemeal? If so, it would be important to know that. Also, it would be important to know if the locations of the removed polyps were marked hy tattoos in the original colonoscopy so that now they can tell if they are dealing with new polyps or with one of the old polyps that were not completely removed.
  .
• Third, it can also be important to know in which part of the colon/rectum the polyps were found. The locations should have been documented in the original colonoscopy report.
  .
• Fourth, you should have been given a copy of your colonoscopy report, preferably containing photos of the cecum or cecal valve to show that the colonoscopy in fact went to the end of the colon. The report would look something like this:
  
  http://www.md-reports.com/colon_rpt.pdf
  .