tingalayo
28-09-21, 20:25
I had my first ever colonoscopy today due to my family history of bowel cancer. They found polyps and diagnosed me with something I'd never heard of called Serrated Polyposis, which means I get this type of polyp and will have to have colonoscopies every 18 months from now on. My health anxiety has been going on ever since I've been aware of this family history, but my consolation has always been that it might not be hereditary. Now it is confirmed that it's not only hereditary, but I'm at high risk of cancer myself. I'm told this is manageable with the regular colonoscopies, but it's incredibly difficult for me to know that I need to do that meticulously for life now otherwise I'm at very high risk of cancer. I'm also worried about them missing things, or having cancer develop in the time between screenings etc. I feel really lost and really sad.
Does anybody else have any kind of genetic syndrome that leads to high cancer risk? How did you come to terms with it? Do you manage to not think about it all the time?
Does anybody else have any kind of genetic syndrome that leads to high cancer risk? How did you come to terms with it? Do you manage to not think about it all the time?