He said to just keep eating more fiber and see what happens. Follow up in two weeks.
The "waiting game" is beyond stressful
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Last: 6 days ago by Jimmy McNulty
Most excellent!
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Great news! Glad you made the move to go get checked. I had a patient today who lost her husband at 39 to colon cancer and he never got checked. Had weird symptoms for years and ended up at stage 4 before finding out.
Has me terrified for my wife right now while we wait on her appointment
Has me terrified for my wife right now while we wait on her appointment
Excellent news!
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Praying for her, man.
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Got diagnosed stage 2 (T2N0 bordering on T3, 2.5cm polyp) rectal cancer in January of this year. Tumor was not recognizable on an MRI or through scope by May after 6 chemo infusions, still not visible after 15 radiation treatments. Today was my first of once every 8 week follow up with the surgeon and still no visible tumor. Point being you can go from worried to seemingly cured pretty fast. Chemo wasn't bad, radiation was much more uncomfortable.
double aught said:
So great to hear. A good message for everyone.
100% just get it done
Absolutely.
I don't wanna get into "TMI territory" but my bowel movements are back to normal. I say that just to remind everyone that if your bowel movements start to slow down, look pencil thin or ribbon like, or feel incomplete- and it stays that way after a week or two- please go get checked out.
I know it's gross and probably TMI but I'm saying this because I don't want anyone to wait too long. The doctor was very serious when he told me that if I had waited much longer it would have been a totally different outcome. The polyp had reached a size to where if it got any larger it could have quickly took a turn for the worse. The larger they grow, the faster they grow.
I know most of us don't like going to the doctor. I'm one of those people. But I promise it's worth it.
I don't wanna get into "TMI territory" but my bowel movements are back to normal. I say that just to remind everyone that if your bowel movements start to slow down, look pencil thin or ribbon like, or feel incomplete- and it stays that way after a week or two- please go get checked out.
I know it's gross and probably TMI but I'm saying this because I don't want anyone to wait too long. The doctor was very serious when he told me that if I had waited much longer it would have been a totally different outcome. The polyp had reached a size to where if it got any larger it could have quickly took a turn for the worse. The larger they grow, the faster they grow.
I know most of us don't like going to the doctor. I'm one of those people. But I promise it's worth it.
Good news man! Happy for you.
When is the appointment? Thinking about you guys.
What were the weird symptoms? I am not really word about this personally but I am a stubborn SOB and would be nice to know what is cause for alarm...
Sorry to hear about this health scare but glad to hear the result! It really sucks learning how mortal we all are... I spent 30+ years of my life in denial.
On the 18th for GI.texasaggie2015 said:
When is the appointment? Thinking about you guys.
Blood in stool off and on plus weird changes in bowel movements. Long bouts of constipation even with high fiber. She did go about a week with the blood until yesterday. She's always had stomach issues so it meeting a GI will be beneficial anyways and I still lean towards it being hemorrhoids or fissures or something. But her family cancer history isn't great so getting it checked anyways.
Her blood work looked solid so I'm feeling a little better and talking with docs I work with has them leaning towards something less serious than cancer
Please always give TMI on this board. If you can't give detailed descriptions anonymously on a Health and Fitness message board, what are we even doing here? I know that I didn't learn **** about the body in HS science classes and I took Oceanography and Geology at A&M, so I need all the info I can get.
Thanks for all you've shared and glad to hear that things are looking up.
Thanks for all you've shared and glad to hear that things are looking up.
Glad the blood work looked good. Definitely a good sign.
Is the blood bright red or darker?
Is the blood bright red or darker?
Could be colitis if blood is fresh and red in toilet after BM. Bloating, aches, sudden diarrhea. Have treatment options but no cure yet.
Good luck to you and your wife tomorrow.
Appreciate it.
She's gonna have a colonoscopy on the 30th just to make sure everything is clear, but the GI doc didn't sound overly worried. He thinks its internal hemorrhoids or fissures. Also going to do some more blood work to rule out some other things like celiac disease.
Everything sounds positive though. I did talk to my father-in-law the other day and he's apparently had polyps on the last 6 colonoscopies, so there is definitely some family history to follow up on
She's gonna have a colonoscopy on the 30th just to make sure everything is clear, but the GI doc didn't sound overly worried. He thinks its internal hemorrhoids or fissures. Also going to do some more blood work to rule out some other things like celiac disease.
Everything sounds positive though. I did talk to my father-in-law the other day and he's apparently had polyps on the last 6 colonoscopies, so there is definitely some family history to follow up on
Good to hear, keeping the positive thoughts coming your way.
Going in for first tomorrow. Hard to believe that in 2024, this is still how we do it.
Sitting in pre-op for her colo. Hoping for all good news today.
great advice. I just turned 50, but 18-24 months ago I did one of the colo-guard tests after my wife nagged me about it over and over and over again...it game back positive. I chalked it up to hemmorroids...but then.....again after the wife nagging me...I did my first colonoscopy...and the Dr removed 3 polyps...one of which was HUGE. I didn't have any of the symptoms you talked about....but the Dr said if I waited another couple of years, that big polyp would have definitely become cancerous. Thank god I got over my stubbornness and got it done.texasaggie2015 said:
Absolutely.
I don't wanna get into "TMI territory" but my bowel movements are back to normal. I say that just to remind everyone that if your bowel movements start to slow down, look pencil thin or ribbon like, or feel incomplete- and it stays that way after a week or two- please go get checked out.
I know it's gross and probably TMI but I'm saying this because I don't want anyone to wait too long. The doctor was very serious when he told me that if I had waited much longer it would have been a totally different outcome. The polyp had reached a size to where if it got any larger it could have quickly took a turn for the worse. The larger they grow, the faster they grow.
I know most of us don't like going to the doctor. I'm one of those people. But I promise it's worth it.
Your advice is sound....GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY. It was so easy and I was nervous for nothing. The prep the day before (sitting on the toilet with my phone for a long time LOL) was the worst part...the actual colonoscopy was me taking a good nap and waking up, coming home, going back to sleep and waking up again and feeling refreshed and good as new!
Wife ended up having a very large 2 cm polyp and another smaller one. They took both out and Dr seemed in optimistic in both of them being benign. She also had some hemorrhoids that he thinks was causing the bleeding. So if not for those hemorrhoids, we'd probably have had no idea to go get checked out. Also had signs of IBS and diverticulosis.
Just waiting on the pathology now. Have to really think they need to lower the colonoscopy age at the rate I'm hearing about young people and polyps.
Just waiting on the pathology now. Have to really think they need to lower the colonoscopy age at the rate I'm hearing about young people and polyps.
Glad to hear everything seems like good news.
Also- as a side note. It turns out my issues had nothing to do with that large polyp at all. That was just a complete coincidence (probable divine intervention).
The constipation got slightly better but stuck around. A week or so went by and I started getting weird gut pains. And then weird things started happening.
When I sat down, it felt like I had to pee BAD. Like urgently. As soon as a stood up, the urge would go away. It was absolutely bizarre.
A few days later, my legs started going numb. It felt like they were asleep when I would sit down or stand in one place for too long. Another couple days went by and my legs started feeling weak and wobbly. At this point I was beyond freaked out.
The gastro had no idea what to make of it. My PCP was a little baffled as well.
I ended up bringing all this up to a friend of mine who is a chiropractor. He said I needed some x-rays done on my back.
Well, I found a chiropractor here in The Woodlands and got looked at. Turns out my lower back was completely out of alignment and my pelvis was rotated. I also had a slipped disk that was effecting a nerve that controls your digestive system, bladder and lower extremities. I've had a couple treatments and the majority of my systems have completely gone away.
Kinda wild! They think it's from a combination of sitting at a desk all day and a traumatic injury I had to my left leg and ankle several years ago. I don't have the strength in it that I used to have, so all the years of compensating threw everything way off balance.
Also- as a side note. It turns out my issues had nothing to do with that large polyp at all. That was just a complete coincidence (probable divine intervention).
The constipation got slightly better but stuck around. A week or so went by and I started getting weird gut pains. And then weird things started happening.
When I sat down, it felt like I had to pee BAD. Like urgently. As soon as a stood up, the urge would go away. It was absolutely bizarre.
A few days later, my legs started going numb. It felt like they were asleep when I would sit down or stand in one place for too long. Another couple days went by and my legs started feeling weak and wobbly. At this point I was beyond freaked out.
The gastro had no idea what to make of it. My PCP was a little baffled as well.
I ended up bringing all this up to a friend of mine who is a chiropractor. He said I needed some x-rays done on my back.
Well, I found a chiropractor here in The Woodlands and got looked at. Turns out my lower back was completely out of alignment and my pelvis was rotated. I also had a slipped disk that was effecting a nerve that controls your digestive system, bladder and lower extremities. I've had a couple treatments and the majority of my systems have completely gone away.
Kinda wild! They think it's from a combination of sitting at a desk all day and a traumatic injury I had to my left leg and ankle several years ago. I don't have the strength in it that I used to have, so all the years of compensating threw everything way off balance.
Middle of my waiting game....biopsy Tuesday on my boob... probably nothing but this is the second time to do this in a year. Doesn't help that I'm an oncology nurse & know too much.
Prayer for you.
All clear. Nice to breathe again.
Just to piggy back a little bit. With the drama of Covid, I put off my annual exam with blood work. When I finally had it done , my doctor called me the next day to say that my PSA level was very high, I think it was 19.1. Had a biopsy of my prostate and found cancer in 10 of 12 samples. Mt Gleason score was 4/5. Fortunately, the body scan showed no cancer cells outside of the prostate. Underwent radiation treatment snow have one more hormone shot in January. All my follow-up tests have been very good. My specialist said I was not a good candidate for surgery and recommended the radiation route.
So, don't put off the blood work annually.
So, don't put off the blood work annually.
Your whole experience in this threat is pretty similar to mine. I first started getting some mild discomfort in my gut above the belly button but sometimes it would be uncomfortable in different places, sometimes further to the left, sometimes the right, and sometimes just under the center of my rib cage.texasaggie2015 said:
Glad to hear everything seems like good news.
Also- as a side note. It turns out my issues had nothing to do with that large polyp at all. That was just a complete coincidence (probable divine intervention).
The constipation got slightly better but stuck around. A week or so went by and I started getting weird gut pains. And then weird things started happening.
When I sat down, it felt like I had to pee BAD. Like urgently. As soon as a stood up, the urge would go away. It was absolutely bizarre.
A few days later, my legs started going numb. It felt like they were asleep when I would sit down or stand in one place for too long. Another couple days went by and my legs started feeling weak and wobbly. At this point I was beyond freaked out.
The gastro had no idea what to make of it. My PCP was a little baffled as well.
I ended up bringing all this up to a friend of mine who is a chiropractor. He said I needed some x-rays done on my back.
Well, I found a chiropractor here in The Woodlands and got looked at. Turns out my lower back was completely out of alignment and my pelvis was rotated. I also had a slipped disk that was effecting a nerve that controls your digestive system, bladder and lower extremities. I've had a couple treatments and the majority of my systems have completely gone away.
Kinda wild! They think it's from a combination of sitting at a desk all day and a traumatic injury I had to my left leg and ankle several years ago. I don't have the strength in it that I used to have, so all the years of compensating threw everything way off balance.
I finally went to a gastro and did a colonoscopy and they removed several polyps at 37 years old that were what he described as likely "precancerous" so I will be getting on every three years.
I still have discomfort but admittedly have drank much more beer than I should on a weekly basis and I'm sure it's caused havoc on my bowels. I have gained a bit of weight so I just started dieting and tracking calories as it has helped me lose 40+ pounds multiple times in the past.
I hope losing weight, and being more active will help. If not, I will make another appointment.