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Colonoscopy next week. Canceled twice.

Posted , 10 users are following.

megan13324
megan13324

I've had fresh blood in my stools for 2 years. I had 2 sigmoidoscopies that found nothing. The GI group wants me to get a Colonoscopy. I canceled twice already. I'm terrified. I'm afraid of a perforated bowel, infection, etc. I keep talking myself out of it. I don't know what to do. I have a lot of anxiety and don't know what's best for me. I have a baby and so scared of something happening to me. I can't even breathe thinking about doing this. 

sad

1 like, 42 replies

42 Replies

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  • joe10258
    joe10258 megan13324

    Posted

    Thinking of you, and hope you remember to breath.  It's the simple things that can help at times.

    I am not much of a believe in colonoscopies for screening purposes for low risk people, but with the symptoms that you mention, it really does sound like the right step forward for you.

    I have seen from my friends and many others that just the fear of some things can be so strong, sometimes it is larger than the fear of what may be found.

    I remember camping in a remote area by myself .... in bear country.  And then being distracted by noises that I imagined as a bear, a big bear that would rip through my tent.  I had trouble sleeping that night.  The next day, I was exhausted, so exhausted that I didn't have much energy to keep moving. 

    I realized from that one eventful night, that any bear or other dangerous threat could kill me, but if I spent my energy just worrying about it, then I would have a hard time moving ahead.

    Just tell that bear, your point of concern, that your will save your own energy for sleeping and doing what it is that you have to do.

    Best of everything!

     

  • megan13324
    megan13324

    Posted

    I DID IT!

    They let me do it without sedation, played some Bob Marley, and no cancer.

    Looks like I just have "undiagnosed bleeding". But nothing in my colon. 

    Thanks everyone.

    • lady67208
      lady67208 megan13324

      Posted

      Oh wow - how am I only now seeing this, that's wonderful - well done smile
    • ella18145
      ella18145 megan13324

      Posted

      Wow I'm so happy and proud of u to have done it. Not fun but not that bad either. Congrats xxx
    • megan13324
      megan13324 lady67208

      Posted

      Still bleeding though. They suggested a capsule endoscopy. Keep me updated if you find out anything more.
    • lady67208
      lady67208 megan13324

      Posted

      Hi Megan 

      I'm glad you have this referral because, from what I've read, it is the best next step, unless you have clear upper GI symptoms. I am trying to secure it for myself, as you know.

      Here are some links you may find useful:

      VCE should be considered a first-line procedure for small bowel investigation

      http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/851354

      Bleeding from the small bowel is a rare, often difficult to diagnose cause of GI blood loss. AVMs account for 30 to 40% of cases, and are the primary source of bleeding in patients over the age of 50. Tumors (benign and malignant), polyps, Crohn’s disease, and ulcers are some of the other sources of bleeding. Multiple techniques are used to diagnose and treat the source of small bowel bleeding, including: endoscopy, enteroscopy, x-ray studies, capsule endoscopy, deep small bowel enteroscopy, and intraoperative enteroscopy. with medications. 

      http://s3.gi.org/patients/gihealth/pdf/smallbowel.pdf

      in middle age (41–64 years) vascular anomalies (34.82%), small intestinal tumours (31.25%), non-specific enteritis (9.82%) were the major causes 

      http://gastro.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/05/29/gastro.gou025.full

       

    • lady67208
      lady67208 megan13324

      Posted

      I've just sent you some useful links - but the site is moderating them. The capsule seems to be the best option, particularly for the small bowel - and if you don't have any symptoms from mouth to stomach, why stop there with another limited endoscope?
    • lady67208
      lady67208 megan13324

      Posted

      When compared with push enteroscopy (38 percent yield), capsule endoscopy has been shown to have the better diagnostic yield (66 to 69 percent) in identifying small bowel lesions.

      A recent prospective study comparing capsule endoscopy with barium-contrast upper gastrointestinal series with SBFT found capsule endoscopy to have a superior diagnostic yield in identifying obscure bleeding sites (31 versus 5 percent, respectively). Capsule endoscopy is painless and well tolerated, and requires no sedation Although capsule endoscopy is helpful in identifying pathologic lesions, it must be followed by endoscopy or surgery for tissue diagnosis and treatment of significant sources of bleeding. Capsule endoscopy is contraindicated in patients when bowel stricture is suspected http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0401/p1339.html

       

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