Wonderful GI

I had a colonoscopy done by my GI on Sep. 5th and I was later told that I had a cancerous polyp that needs to be removed soon. My GI was shocked and he let me know that he can't do the surgery so he'd have to refer me to a surgeon and told me that he thinks I should just remove my entire colon since there's a very high risk of it forming again and he apologized that he can't help me anymore. When I saw him the next day, he had bloodshot eyes I was just astonished.

He then told me that he wants to run tests to see if the cancer has spread anywhere so they did a CT and I ended up having such a bad allergic reaction to the dye that they injected that I had to be hospitalized for 3 days. During those days, my GI ran tests and just did everything. I mean, literally everything...he'd walk me in the wheelchair, he'd come to pick me up from my room to bring me downstairs to do tests and take me back up, and came to check on me at night time. They then found out that I may have something in my liver, so my GI asked a doctor that specializes in the liver to do an ultrasound on me and I was scheduled for one, but then my GI wanted to do one on me beforehand so he did one on me first and just did everything.....and this is one big hospital where there are no shortages of nurses....he then called my "new doctor (surgeon)" to speak to him about me. Initially, my GI was supposed to just give me my reports and I do the rest myself but my GI contacted this well-known surgeon and spoke to him about me and even booked an appt. I felt like a princess and I know this sounds stupid but I just do not know how in the world to thank this man...my GI and I are of the same age and we're both young. I had a lot of tests run on me but he was just there beside me for all of them. I came back from the hospital yesterday and I can't stop crying because I'm just so appreciative and thankful for all that he's done. I have another CT tomorrow and the last I see him is this Thursday. He's asked me if I would come back to him after seeing the surgeon to talk about things. Sorry - I know this post is not really on UC but I just wanted to share that I truly did have a wonderful GI.

Thank you for the warm words, Andrina.

Thank you, Cadillac Lover. Hope you're doing well.

So sorry that you're going through this...but so happy to hear you have such a caring doctor. I wish you a speedy recovery and the best possible outcome.
B

I am so happy you found a wonderful doc. It does make everything easier. When I read your post....the first thing I thought was your doc has a little crush on you!!! Just glad you are in such good, capable hands. best of luck for your treatment.

i still have nightmares about my GI almost a year and a half after he left me sitting in the toxins of a perforated colon for 18 hours. It is extremely important to me to hear about a GI who really cares. I confess I do not have faith in GIs. In 25 years, I did not have one who I would want to look after my children. You are very fortunate. Good luck!

I can't believe what I just did... Since today was the last time I was going to see my GI (since I'm going to start seeing a surgeon from next week), I had the nerve to ask him if I could be his friend or keep in touch with him if he wasn't married or wasn't taken.

lol...he goes, "Friends??" and then tells me that the hospital is really strict about meeting patients outside, so I told him that I'm not going to be his patient anymore so...but he told me that I should think about recovering now and that he'd like to hear from me when I feel it's a good time to contact him since he's worried. He says that the surgeon will submit a report to him afterwards but that it would help if I can call him. He's not sure whether the surgeon is going to start seeing me after the surgery or if I'm going to go back to him. I was thinking more of keeping in touch by e-mail or something every once
in a while but ...... it was hard to speak to him since the office is small and the nurses were walking up and down the hallways.

Thank you, quincy. I sort of expected him to say no, too, so I'm not as hurt. I hope you were able to view my response back to you up above somewhere...it's nothing but just wanted to let you know :)

Hello, folks here. I am new. I was diagnosed with colitis a little over a year ago. It was mild, and I had no pain, only bloody stools, that I couldn't control. Other than that it didnt bother me, and I didnt think it was serious. But a few weeks ago I decided to do colon cleanse by some raw food guru, and I started getting sick, loosing energy, and having mild stomach aches, for three weeks. In three weeks I couldnt walk anymore, and the pain became very severe, and I run a fever of 102.9. My husband took me to ER, and after CAT they said, that my entire colon is inflamed. I stayed in hospital for 4 days, and now I am at home: taking Prednisolone 20 mgs, Asacol 3200 mg, couple of antibiotics, painkiller, and VSL3. I came across this board, while researching side effects of steroids. This sounds really scary! I had no idea how serious all of this is, and really life altering! I am a very active person, but now in all this pain and drawsiness, I am not functioning in this world. I usually go to integrative medicine doc, and she wanted me to take Inflamacore, I-glutamine and VSL 3. I am vegan, and normally eat raw food diet. Anyone here was able to heal eating raw? My GI doc says, that it doesn't matter what you eat. Is this true for all of you? I walk, do yoga, and meditate.
What is a "long term" for steroid? Thank you all, for all your help. Love and light to all of us for the highest good of all concerned!

quincy: Well, they found the lump on my liver when they first did a CT scan, so then, they decided to do an MRI on it. Then they did an ultrasound echo on my liver to see that the lump wasn't malignant. Then they did something called a PET-CT on my entire body (from head to my colon). It's like a CT scan but this exam helps detect the slightest of cancers in our body (anywhere from 1 cm). I'm still so young and never thought I'd have cancer at such an age. It really is a scary disease. It seems like you have your's under control, though. The cancerous polyp is right by my rectum. It's just right at the end.

Hi Penny...wow, that is a large size polyp. Since it's already cancerous, the removal of your entire colon is probably the best safeguard for your future, both emotionally and physically.

Age, although sometimes a determining factor, seems not respectful regarding cancer. If you didn't have UC or a doctor who didn't do as indepth testing, you may have never known regarding the polyp. It's good we're tested for cancer.

Since you do have the lump in your liver....I would assume you'd have another test in the future to make sure it's not showing any change. Something for you to note at least once more within a few years.

I suggest you get copies of the reports from ALL your tests to have for your records. Many ask lots of questions....always good to know the answers.

Looking forward to hearing how your appointment with the surgeon goes.
How are you feeling today?

how is your mom doing through all this?

q

It sounds as though you're handling stuff well...having support from your mom and doctors goes a long way. Plus, allowing yourself to vent here is also good. Others have had experience with surgery, going on the ostomies forum will be helpful to you to connect regarding those experiences, feelings, fears...

Maybe your mom sees your strength and has taken it for herself as well. What type of swimming does she do? Is it all competative? Is she with a team?

I wonder if you could call your doc and have him prescribe an antispasmodic to help relieve some of your discomfort? I use dicyclomine. It might take some of the edge off for you since you're not using many meds now.

q