Large polyps in surveillance colonoscopy

Hi Susan13 

I’m really sorry to read about your further issues and as you know, my cancer is different, but I just wanted to say I hope these are just polyps, though I’ve no idea how they are dealt with post TPE. 

I do have a rectal stump after my rectum removal-what a charming name that is! but have had no issues with it or my vaginal stump, other than some vaginal discharge. 

I’ve had many ct and mri scans, and I did have something picked up at a size of 11mm which was described to me as tiny, and just at the size which could be picked up on a scan. This was aggressive for me and grew to 5cm by the time of my TPE.

Sorry, I’m not any help to you, but I understand the fear and worry post TPE surgery so just wanted to touch base here. I hope others in the group might be able to offer you more advice.

Sarah xx

Thank you, Sarah. I appreciate the support. I think I'm overreacting a bit. I think of the TPE surgery as kind of a last resort surgery which may not be accurate. 

So smallest on a scan is roughly 1 cm or a bit bigger. That validates something else. I was still groggy from anesthesia but I could swear the doctor said the polyps were 3-4 cm. When I got home, I thought "no way! I must have misheard." But maybe they were that big. However they were small enough to be removed during the colonoscopy so I still doubt it a little. This will be 1 question for the surgeon. 

Also wondering where in the colon the polyps were located. Was it close to the end (where the rectal cancer would have been)? Or more distant from the original site? Am I looking at loss of my entire colon? 

At the time I was cleared for surgery my tumor was 4 cm and it grew to 8 cm by the time it was removed 4 months later. Based on that rate, it's conceivable that these polyps were 1 cm or less 3 months ago and would have been picked up by my scan in 2 weeks. Maybe just more frequent scans? I can't imagine that would be approved though. I'm already every 3 months. 

Maybe I'm thinking about this backwards. Perhaps I need more chemo. That's a question both for my surgeon and my oncologist. 

If nothing else, this is a good forum for helping me create questions. As long as I can imagine a way forward, it feels much more manageable. 

My (sigmoid) tumour was 3.5 cm and didn’t show on my CT scans.  My oncologist said that was quite normal: polyps and even tumors are not so different from normal bower tissue that they can be spotted easily.  CT scans are good for finding metastases, but not for seeing tumours inside the bowel.  

Hope you polyps are benign! 

Thank you! This is exactly the information I needed. 

This tells me that I need to push for more frequent colonoscopies. 

The doctor thought the polyps were precancerous so I'm going with that until pathology results come in.

I'm just worried that the cancer will return and get out of control before we find it. 

Hi Susan, just wanted to say am so sorry you have all this additional anxiety! Really hoping those polyps are precancerous. It sounds like it's really reasonable to suggest more frequent colonoscopies given the previous speed of growth. Best wishes x

Update:

Pathology came back today. The polyps were precancerous as my surgeon thought. However, he agreed with me that I needed more frequent colonoscopies and I'm scheduled again in 6 months. Phew. I feel much better knowing I'll be examined sooner. Just like in the beginning... having a plan reduces stress immeasurably. (Aside: there's a part of me that's astonished that I'm actually ASKING for more frequent colonoscopies.)

In case it happens to anyone else, he told me not to worry about the staples coming undone in the rectal stump. It can just stay that way. Who knew?

Wonderful news! How reassuring to have the regular colonoscopies! All that lovely prep to look forward to as well

Such great news for you Susan-that’s excellent. More frequent colonoscopies should help reduce the stress for you. Very interesting to see what was said about your rectal stump-no-one has ever examined me there since my surgery so I will continue to live in blissful ignorance since it doesn’t seem to give me any issues!

Sarah xx

I think rectal stump examinations are standard of care for rectal cancer survivors... seems like it would be the most likely site of recurrence. The rest of you may be spared. Lucky you! 

Ah, that makes sense. I had no cancer in my rectum-I just chose to have it removed, and my most likely site of recurrence is elsewhere. But I just passed my 5 years from TPE surgery last month and my surgeon considers me cured, so I’ll go with that! 

Sarah xx