Poylps?????? Colon

[wingo22]

Hi i am a 57 year old woman and i was called into my doctors office to review results of my stool exam.  my doctor trold me that i have stage one colon cancer or polyps????  he said not to worry about it because it is still only in its early stage and it can be removed???. Can it be removed and once itis removed what if if comes back from the lab as cancerous??? im really scared are these things life threatning??  are they common?

PLEASE HELP ME!

[suzi-q]

He is just assuming what it is....he will not know what it is until a colonoscopy and biopsy ( if there is anything there)  remember, polyps are very very common and most times, benign.  Try not to worry.

[wingo22]

no i didnt get a biopsy done yet............ the doctor is just going by teh testresults from the stool.

[bip]

Colon cancer is curable  if you get it early stage. Poylp are benign.

Did you get a biopsy done?

[Topher7]

I had a colonoscopy 5 years ago and they found a polyp. Most polyps are not cancer. If you catch one that is early enough though it is one of the most treatable cancers out there.

[suzi-q]

Maybe you asked, what could it be?  They they give you a list of 1000 things.  Like Barbarella said,  you will need to have a colonoscopy to remove any polyps.  Most of the time it is benign, but if it isn't, in the early stages it is very treatable and curable.  Best to you and keep us updated.

[Barbarella]

Did the doctor say "colon cancer OR polyps" there is a big difference.  Polyps are not always cancer.

You said you had a "stool exam".  Stool exams detect if there is any blood in your stool, which could mean many things.  Colon cancer, polyps, hemorrhoids, IBS, even a bleeding ulcer.

Are you scheduled for a colonoscopy?  During the colonoscopy they remove any polyps and suspicious growth and send it to the lab for a biopsy.

Without having what I mentioned above done your doctor should have waited what the biopsy shows before mentioning the word "cancer", but your doctor is not the only one, mine told me one time I could have Leukemia because my white blood count was a little off,  I neither have Leukemia nor any other blood disease.

I wish doctors would stop scaring people BEFORE they even have the results of a biopsy, but some doctors give you the worst scenerio because they want to make sure that you follow up with the necessary tests and treatment.

Good luck!