My father who is 88 years old underwent a colonoscopy on April 6 which revealed 19 polyps. He had 4 benign polyps 5 years ago. Of the 19 polyps, 18 were benign. The remaining polyp which was not removed or [b]biopsied was a sessile one of 19 mm. The unfortunate part of this story is that subsequent to the procedure, my father had to have a pacemaker implanted due to the fact that he failed both EKGs at the beginning of the colonoscopy procedure. It has been recommended and scheduled on August 23, an EMR procedure to remove the polyp. I am outraged by all of this. Granted that I am a colon cancer survivor, I am not sure that my father should proceed with the EMR procedure. The pacemaker procedure caused tremendous anxiety for my father which has led to major clinical depression. I am very upset that the gastro doctor performed the procedure when there were apparent heart issues. Secondly, the Gastro doctor who will perform the EMR procedure will not delay the procedure until October. He indicates that the first gastro doctor who performed the colonoscopy did not like the look of the polyp or size, but no biospy was taken. Second, I do not believe that in an 88 year old a polyp is going to grow at an accelerated speed.
In 2009, I was diagnosed with 2B T3,No, Mo colon cancer. I completed 12 rounds of chemo, and I have not had any recurrence. I was 48 at the time of my diagnosis. Recently, I completed a cancer genetic risk assessment for Familial polopysis which came back negative. Another sad thing about this entire story is that my daughters wedding is less that a month after the EMR procedure for my Dad. If there are complications, he may need a bowel resection. I am frustrated, and very concerned. I will be with him when he goes through the procedure. All of this is disappointing, and honestly I do not believe the sessile polyp will be the cause of his death.