Colon/Bowel Polyps

Kynthia

lindseylocket wrote: »

I believe he was told really large polyps are less likely to be cancerous as they would have had to become cancerous before growing so large, so wouldn't have grown so large - if that makes sense.

It's actually the opposite. The likelihood of an adenoma polyp turning or already being cancerous is dependent on its size, the bigger the more likely. The chances are also increased the more you have, if there's family history of polyps and if there's family history of bowel cancer.

There's also a type of polyp that is virtually never cancerous so it's possible your dad has these. Polyps are a common condition and most people are fine but its best to have them removed.

Debs1968

My mum who is 68 has been having colonoscopys for polyps for seven years now. Her consultant said she has a "carpet of polyps" and it is not possible to removed them all, only the ones that "poke their heads above the others". Last year she was told sometimes polyps can lead to bowel cancer - this was the first time cancer was mentioned, but she does tend to bury her head in the sand so maybe she didnt ask the "right" questions until last year.

She had this year's operation in June and last week we were told she has bowel cancer (rectal to be precise). She has had symptoms of bowel cancer ie. blood in stools, a pain in her bottom and unable to walk or sit comfortably etc since Feb/March, but both her GP and her consultants registra told her it was more likely she had piles and gave her various pessaries etc, none of which worked. Two weeks ago we had the follow up meeting with her consultant after her op in June. He told her that an area in her bowel had signifcant changes since last year and sent her for CT and MRI scans. Last Tuesday we were told she has a 6cm tumour which is malignant, however they won't know her staging until after her operation later this year.

We have a meeting with her Onc tomorrow to discuss her treatment plan, which I understand is combined chemo-radiation for 5-6 weeks followed by more scans 2-3 months later then an op to remove what is left of the tumour. She will then have a permanent stoma bag (this is because of where the tumour is situated, if it had been higher up then it would more likely have been a temporarly bag). The Consultant assured us that bowel cancer is one of the more treatable cancers and that it has been caught early due to her yearly check ups.

At tomorrows appt I will be asking which type of polyps she has, as I understand one kind is hereditary and other isn't (this is my understanding from the cancer research website, so I may have misunderstood). Last year I was diagnosed with aggressive stage 3 ductal breast cancer and I would like to know if there is any link.

I hope your Dad gets good news from his tests. Try not to worry, easier said than done I know.

Debs

Panda78

Hi everyone,

OP here. My Dad had a call late on Friday to say he needs to attend the hospital today to discuss his colonoscopy results. We are all very worried as of course, most people expect a letter through the post if results are non cancerous. He has a family history of bowel cancer, rectal bleeding and stomach problems (which he thought were piles and IBS which he's on meds for, so this has masked some symptoms).

Has anyone received their colonoscopy results in person before and found they were fine ie not cancer? He asked the nurse if it meant bad news, but she wasn't allowed to say.

His appointment is this afternoon. It's been a very worrying weekend.

Edit - should add, 2 sessile polyps were found during the colonoscopy 2 weeks ago. We have been waiting for the lab results then received the call on Friday.

System

As far as I know all results have to be given by a consultant or a member of his team....Hubby has had quite a few tests over the last few years and all of them hes had to go back for the results even if there was good news (although his problems weren't bowel related).

Just to remind you, my Mother had early stage bowel cancer many years ago and is now still cancer free.

My friends Father has also had the all clear from the hospital after having bowel cancer. He had to use colostomy bag for 18 months after surgery but he's fine now.

Panda78

Judi wrote: »

As far as I know all results have to be given by a consultant or a member of his team....Hubby has had quite a few tests over the last few years and all of them hes had to go back for the results even if there was good news (although his problems weren't bowel related).

Just to remind you, my Mother had early stage bowel cancer many years ago and is now still cancer free.

My friends Father has also had the all clear from the hospital after having bowel cancer. He had to use colostomy bag for 18 months after surgery but he's fine now.

Thanks again Judi, that's good to hear. It may just have been the nurse's manner when she made the call, but she was very downbeat and stressed the urgency that he must return, yet said she couldn't give details! It's just been made so much worse having the weekend in between to worry about it even more.

valk_scot

OH had two big polyps removed during a colonoscopy two years ago. The surgeon said that they were almost certainly benign but that they had to be sent for testing to be 100% sure. It turned out one of them contained pre-cancerous cells so it was excellent that it had been removed before it turned cancerous, a real thumbs-up for bowel cancer screening here.

Back to how OH was given the news, he was asked to come in to see the consultant (senior registrar?) again to get it, yes. This was so the details could be explained clearly and give OH the chance to ask as many questions as he wished. The doctor said it was more effective to tell people face to face, they absorbed the details better and were more likely to believe "Pre-cancerous, now out, no more danger from it" rather than have a total freak out and blank out everything after the words "pre-cancerous". All that happened after this with OH is that he gets the bowel screening kit through the post every year, there was no follow up treatment required.

Hope it's the same for your Dad and there's nothing to worry about.

Panda78

valk_scot wrote: »

OH had two big polyps removed during a colonoscopy two years ago. The surgeon said that they were almost certainly benign but that they had to be sent for testing to be 100% sure. It turned out one of them contained pre-cancerous cells so it was excellent that it had been removed before it turned cancerous, a real thumbs-up for bowel cancer screening here.

Back to how OH was given the news, he was asked to come in to see the consultant (senior registrar?) again to get it, yes. This was so the details could be explained clearly and give OH the chance to ask as many questions as he wished. The doctor said it was more effective to tell people face to face, they absorbed the details better and were more likely to believe "Pre-cancerous, now out, no more danger from it" rather than have a total freak out and blank out everything after the words "pre-cancerous". All that happened after this with OH is that he gets the bowel screening kit through the post every year, there was no follow up treatment required.

Hope it's the same for your Dad and there's nothing to worry about.

Thank you Val.

To update everyone, my Dad's been seen and so far it's good and bad. One of the polyps is cancer but they think it's all been removed through the colonoscopy. Have to do bloods and CT/MRI to confirm it hasn't spread, but they sound optimistic.

PLEASE EVERYONE - DO THE DIY SELF SCREENING TEST WHEN IT'S SENT! This has hopefully saved my Dad's life. The doctor said that lots of people ignore the screening letter when it's sent.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

System

Thanks for the update and I hope the tests come back negative for cancer anywhere else.

Early stage bowel cancer has a high cure rate, my Mother and my friends Father is proof of that.:)

pimento

Good luck to your dad.

My husband has a colonoscopy a couple of weeks ago after an area of his ascending colon glowed on a PET scan he was given after chemotherapy for lung cancer.
We were very worried but the consultant said he could usually tell just by looking at the area whether it was cancerous or not.
Luckily, it wasn't.

jemb

They'd have been able to tell if it had spread, has he been booked in for CT scan or MRI? Sounds like they're fairly confident it was probably contained in the polyp itself. My Dad was told Christmas eve last year he had Bowel cancer, rectal to be precise. The scans showed my dad exactly what was there even before diagnosis when he was layed being scanned. He even asked the person scanning him, is that cancer? To which, and I'm sure they weren't meant to tell him but he plainly answered, "Looks like it". Has your dad been told what's next?

Dad went in originally being told by our Dr he had IBS, no problem with blood in stools etc, just a lower back ache that would go away with nothing. He has however two crushed discs from an accident so put it down to that and getting older (he was 58 when diagnosed).

Don't be scared to jump up and down for answers though. In my opinion the NHS truely do see you as just a number and it's not until you retaliate and say no, it's not ok that they sit up and listen to you at all.

I wish you the best of luck with your Dad and do truely hope that they've caught it now for you all as it does affect all the family of the person going through it xx