Tuesday April 1st was the scheduled date for my repeat Colonoscopy.
If you remember from my previous Colonoscopy back in November last year the Gastroenterologist Dr Simon Leedham (aka The Bum Doc) found 2 large flat lesions that were too large to remove during that particular procedure.
The purpose of doing another Colonoscopy was to remove the flat lesions because whilst not currently sinister they were found by biopsy to have pre-cancerous cells & frankly being large they wanted to take them out anyway.
I arrived and was taken through quite quickly….first the consent forms…then get changed into the glamourous “shorts with access panel”…I kid you not! Then Dr Leedham comes through to talk to me further. He isn’t performing the procedure – his colleague Dr East will be…but before they start he wants to talk further regarding the link that he thinks is there between my Melanoma (Braf+) and the flat lesions in my Colon (also Braf+). They want to know if they can use the removed lesions for testing & research……of course! Why on earth would I say no…I certainly don’t want to keep them!…they also want to take some blood for testing & several additional biopsies of tissue within the Colon that doesn’t currently have any polyps or lesions on – to see if there are pre-cursers or cells that can alert them of where one might appear.
Makes total sense to me & I sign all required forms.
I enter the room…in attendance is Dr East, Dr Leedham about 5 or 6 others – I am being well looked after. Blood is taken “a la vampire…they took the biggest syringe full you can imagine”! The sedative is administered and the procedure begins.
The suspicious 2 large lesions of 2-3cm turn out to be 3….2 are quite tricky to get to & because of this & the risk of perforating the lining of the Colon the decision is made to remove these first – if the Colon tears they can put my under General and take out the 3rd which is the largest at about 3-4cm at the same time by removing a section of my Colon.
Tricky was an understatement…afterwards Dr Leedham actually said to me that at times they all thought the Colon was bound to tear..but it didn’t & that in his opinion it was one of the finest Enterological procedures that he had ever seen.
The removal process took time…I could see it all on screen as before – even on screen the lesions looked big. It is quite easy to see on screen because effectively what they do is inflate your colon with air so that they have access to all the intestinal tissue which would otherwise be folded and wrinkled together. They then inject a blue dye into the offending flat lesions which raises them from the surface of the Colon so they can be more easily removed. Blood vessels are inevitably cut during removal & these are sealed using an internal & smaller version of a cattle prod like the one used on my big scars – the tool effectively burns the blood vessels which seals the blood flow by creating a clot.
There are very few nerve endings in the colon (you wouldn’t really want many there anyway)…but even despite the limited number of nerve endings I had to ask for the “Gin & Tonic” sedative to be topped up when the pain became too great.
I was very lucky that the thin lining of the Colon did not tear & was allowed to go home….”don’t drive for 24 hours & contact us if you feel severe pain”.
Well I am naïve in many ways because I didn’t actually expect the pain to have been than much greater than my previous Colonoscopy & the pain was considerably more.
Thankfully I was able to work from home on the Wednesday so I didn’t need to take another day out of my holiday allowance…although not being able to drive was the least of my problems. As the sedative wore off my pain threshold was being tested & I started to feel nauseous & “wrong”…which culminated in my passing out in the kitchen early Tuesday evening – which as you can imagine was disorientating for me but considerably frightening for my poor Little People & The Mr.
I am however something of a difficult and problematic patient….I am stubborn & I refused to be taken to hospital because it would upset The Little People…..so long as I was totally still I could cope with the discomfort. Thankfully the pain gradually started to ease….very gradually.
Dr Leedham called on both Wednesday & Thursday to check up on my recovery & informed me that in his opinion I was suffering with a post-operative complication/reaction called Post Polypectomy Syndrome.
Remember the cattle prod…by sealing the vessels on the inside of the colon & getting them to stop bleeding they basically burnt the lining wall…..and that wall is very thin…so there is nothing to protect the organs and tissue surrounding the Colon from the heat. They basically go into shock. The pain is much greater – you can experience fevers (yep I did), nausea & dizziness( again yes…but difficult to pin point the dizziness part!) amongst other reactions.
I need to watch out for symptoms returning – especially on day 5 when the Blood clots that are formed by burning/sealing the blood vessels come away. When they come away it is possible that the vessels could start to bleed again – or worse that the lining of the Colon could tear at this point. These side effects are rare complications….but rare & I go hand in hand…only 1% of people that have Colonoscopies get Post Polypectomy Syndrome…..and Melanoma is rare as well.
The link keeps cropping up.
Dr Leedham has decided to investigate the link further…he is referring me to a Genetisist.
It really makes a difference in confidence of care when the people looking after you go above & beyond, no stone unturned.