Tues 22.2.11
Well, this wasn't how I thought things were going to go, given the fact that up till last Wednesday consultants were telling me they didn't think anything was wrong. Last Wednesday morning I spoke to a gynae consultant about my abdominal pain and bloating and he said he would do a laparoscopy if i was so worried but he didn't think he would find anything significant i my 4cm ovarian cyst was perfectly normal for a woman of my age. He said i may just have to learn to live with whatever pain i have an take paracetomol.
In the afternoon, I went for my flexibile sigmoidoscopy to have removed a "sub-1cm polyp" from my colon identified on a barium xray. However, during the procedure the consultant said "you have an awful lot of polyps in here. I no longer trust the barium results and will have to get you back in for a full colonoscopy". He then asked me if i have a family history of colon polyps or tumours. I told him what i told him previously that my mother has a stomach full of polyps. He then announced i may have to have my colon removed as i am "too young". After taking several biopsies he then said he would see me in 3 weeks for the results and for the colonoscopy.
Left with that devastating news, but no further explanation of what he meant I went home and looked up "multiple colon polyps" and "family history" and saw what he meant. There is a rare gene mutation passed down through families that predisposes you to colon cancer at a young age (99-100% likelihood) and the only way to prevent it is colon removal.
I then contacted my mum who lives in France and told her to go back to her GP and ask about this disease. She did and her doctor immediately said she should have been suspected of having this a year ago when she was experiencing clear symptoms of bowel cancer. She is now waiting to have her colon examined and her stomach once again.
In the meantime, I have just had to tell my 3 grown up (18, 20 and 24) children they need to get tested for this dreadful disease, having a 1 in 2 chance of having inherited it. It seems my mother was the start of this gene mutation, as we have no family history of this. I also had to tell my brother to get tested.
I am devastated by this news, wondering if I have cancer that has spread given all my symptoms (especially breathlessness) and how many others in our family will have to face this.
I'll update this site as and when i get news.
