Double whammy! Mammogram tomorrow and colonoscopy next week!

readytorock · January 2018

(and would love to hear if others have had in-office test for blood in stool!)

I'm 3+ years out from BC. Due for my annual mammogram tomorrow. This does NOT get easier! I'm a wreck. Ug.

Next week I have a colonoscopy. I had a in-office test for blood in stool during my annual gyno visit and it came back positive. Maybe. She couldn't even tell for sure. Has anyone else had one of these tests? She basically stuck her finger up my ass for a second, rubbed her finger on a little stick, shook it up with some liquid and waited for it to turn pink - just like a pregnancy test. So I'm off for a colonoscopy. I'm really thinking false positive on the test. I'd love to hear if anyone else has had one (and the results - I think:)

mustlovepoodles · January 2018

A positive stool test just means there is blood somewhere in the GI tract. Most commonly this is caused by silent internal hemmorhoids or hard stools. However, a colonoscopy is required to rule out disease, such as polyps, diverticulitis, and yes, colon cancer. In my experience colonoscopy is painless. They usually give you an IV sedative, so you aren't awake and don't remember anything. When you wake up it's all over. Honestly, i think colonoscopy is less terrifying than mammogram!

astyanax66 · January 2018

Hi, what a strange coincidence! I'm in the same boat, different order. I have a diagnostic colonoscopy on Wednesday and then the "call back" mammo on Friday. I used Cologuard, so there is no way to know if it was just some blood (I have occasional hemorrhoids) or something in the DNA (since the test is simply + or -). I'm not really looking forward to it, but yeah, having these things back to back stinks. For the Cologuard test, I put poop in a baggie along with a brushing of it and mailed it back in a box. It was very easy to do.

I realize I'm an outlier--I am having my colonoscopy without sedation. Before everyone thinks that's just insane, I do have a very good reason--terrible reactions to the common drugs used (Fentanyl, Versed, and/or Propofol). We're talking like I stopped breathing once on Versed and have 12 hours of explosive vomiting that isn't stopped by anti-emetics. So, it took a while to find a doctor willing to do this, and if the pain is too much, I'll have an IV just in case for Propofol (the least nauseating of the bunch). I don't like pain, but if I can avoid the nausea, that would be great. Everyone is different, and I'm glad these meds work for others.

From my research, a lot of the stool tests (like FIT or Cologuard) have a relatively high false positive rate--so I hope that this is the case for you, and nothing is wrong. Please let me know how your colonoscopy goes!

Dee

mustlovepoodles · January 2018

Yikes, astyanax! Thats really extreme. You are a warrior!

My sister has had colonoscopies during which she was awake, but sedated. She was actually intrigued by the process and did not remember feeling fear or pain

Not me. I wanted aaaaaallllll the drugs!

astyanax66 · January 2018

I would love to have a drug that didn’t cause nausea and the awful side effects. Believe me, I’d be right on it!

astyanax66 · January 2018

Readytorock, how are you? Today I am on liquids/soft food (but not clear), and tomorrow, it's clear fluids only followed by my half jug of go juice. I am hungry, but I love to eat, so I suspect that is normal.

I finish the other half of the goop early Weds morning and report to the hospital at 12:30 for check in.

Tomorrow is my diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. I was able to get it moved from Friday (there was no way I could wait that long). Hope you are doing okay!

readytorock · January 2018

astyanaz66 -

I'm good! My mammo was all clear (although my cancer was did not show up on mammogram, only MRI). I had to postpone colonoscopy due to a death in the family and will be traveling. Darn. Had already started the low roughage diet, which is so not how I normally eat! But I did enjoy "having" to eat a grilled cheese on white bread for once!

astyanax66 · January 2018

I'm glad to hear about your good mammo results, but sorry about your loss and having to repeat your prep.

astyanax66 · January 2018

My colonoscopy went well, unsedated! (I totally understand why that is not a choice many would make--I'm just weird with the medications causing nausea--wish it were not so). I thought the prep was just...ick. I hope that the next time, I get a low-volume prep with less junk to drink. Everyone was nice and helpful through the process. I go back in 5 years (he said my prep could've been better--the nurse winked at me later and said he's just very picky), but I know now what to expect. Hope you are doing okay!

astyanax66 · February 2018

Well, I made it to the breast center specialist #1 (radiologist) and am glad I did. She found a lesion and did a core needle biopsy with ultrasound. The general community radiologist had not spotted it, just an architectural distortion that “seemed to disappear.” It is very small, but a bit concerning—hypoechoic, microcalcifications, etc. and it is solid, not a cyst. This was February 1,and I go back on th 6th. I feel good about the team approach—this time I meet th surgical oncologist and get the pathology report.

By the time you may read this, I hope you were able to get your colonoscopy rescheduled. Good luck and hope it goes well.

Double whammy! Mammogram tomorrow and colonoscopy next week!

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