Quote:
Originally Posted by spike021
My brothers been having some health issues, nothing serious really but the doctor recommended a colonoscopy just to check things out.
Apparently they found a carcinoid (?) and they're going to have my brother do another colonoscopy in one or two months for another look.
Anybody here have experience with that?
It's hard not to be a little concerned... he's only about 40 years old...
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Unfortunately yes I have. Back in January of 2006, Friday the 13th to be exact, I had my first scheduled colonoscopy. I was supposed to have had one when I turned 50 but it kept getting put off. Good thing to as if I had one then it would have been clean. They used to say every five years so next one would have made me 55 and DEAD! Now they push for fourty.
Anyway, the doctor found, removed and tested a very small dot. When he came into the room to discuss his findings, no bedside manner at all, it was; You have cancer! As soon as we can schedule a surgeon and an O.R. you're going in for a colectomy. After the shock of hearing this he did explain that it was a very small dark spot and he was surprised it was actually cancerous. Furthermore he said that they would only remove a few inches either side.
Turns out the wife and I got booked for our surgeries for the same morning in February. Me first and then her. She had been waiting nearly a year for a left oophorectomy.
Funny story, we both had our presurgery and check in at the same time. So when we walked into the office everyone turned around and I said; We want to book the Honeymoon Suite. Nobody laughed even after I explained our situation.
In my case it turned out that I had a very aggressive form of cancer that went from stage 0 to stage 2/3 in less than a month. That means it went from a dot on the inside of the colon to growing through the colon and attacking other tissue, organs perhaps even Lymph Nodes. So They actually gave me a right hemicolectomy. That where they remove everything on the right side. It was scary at first but with each passing month the survival rate grew exponentially.
So 17 years, a triple by-pass and two more cancer surgeries (skin) later and I'm still kicking.
Early detection is great but sometimes it's just plain dumb luck like with me.
Like I always say, I'd rather be lucky than good!