orthagonal
22-03-17, 16:54
I'm obsessing about it. I've had intermittent rectal bleeding for at least ten years. It comes and goes, lasts for a few days. It's bright red and frank and I have terrible bowel habits, so I always assumed it was a hem. Talked to my doc about it two years ago, he did a DRE/proctoscope exam, said he thought it was in internal hemorrhoid. We did a fecal leukocyte test to rule out IBDs, came back negative. The next year I mentioned I was still having the problem, he gave me a referral to a GI doc.
Doctor's visits and tests give me serious anxiety (I had a skin tag removed last year that I was positive was melanoma even though it looked nothing like it, and it naturally wasn't) so I put it off and put it off. Then I read some dumb NYT article about how cases of colon cancer are rising in my age group (under 40) and of course it set me off. So I scheduled the appointment two weeks ago, it's coming up tomorrow and I'm having visions of complete colonic resections and an early death, all because I put off the exam for so long.
A more realistic fear, for me at least, is that this begins a process of tests with waits between results that will put me in a weeks or months long anxiety limbo. So, for those of you who have been to one, or regularly visit gastroenterologists, what should I expect? Is this an issue that can be satisfactorily resolved for me in one visit, or can I expect another 2-4 weeks of worrying as I wait for a colonoscopy slot to open up?
Doctor's visits and tests give me serious anxiety (I had a skin tag removed last year that I was positive was melanoma even though it looked nothing like it, and it naturally wasn't) so I put it off and put it off. Then I read some dumb NYT article about how cases of colon cancer are rising in my age group (under 40) and of course it set me off. So I scheduled the appointment two weeks ago, it's coming up tomorrow and I'm having visions of complete colonic resections and an early death, all because I put off the exam for so long.
A more realistic fear, for me at least, is that this begins a process of tests with waits between results that will put me in a weeks or months long anxiety limbo. So, for those of you who have been to one, or regularly visit gastroenterologists, what should I expect? Is this an issue that can be satisfactorily resolved for me in one visit, or can I expect another 2-4 weeks of worrying as I wait for a colonoscopy slot to open up?