Suggest Tests To Diagnose Colon Cancer With History Of Uterine Cancer
My question.....my 'insides' have been cleaned out twice within a year with pre-op cleansing and I have had 2 ct scans with barium which shoots right through me.
I am due for my 10 year colonoscopy and am wondering how soon it would be safe to do that.
Remember I have only 1 kidney and my 'insides' have been cleaned out 4 times in less than a year.
Also, how much reliance can I put on just having the CT scan done with the oral contrast as far as my bowels and stomach and all go.
Thank you for any information you can give me....
Cancer screening is tremendously important with your history
Detailed Answer:
None of the procedures are cleanouts that you had were aimed at detecting colon cancer. The abdominal CT scan that is done to detect colon cancer requires a full bowel prep. Then the radiologist reading the scan has to find absolutely no abnormality before he or she would pass on recommending a colonoscopy. Given your history of two malignancies, your age and previous surgeries, I doubt very much that any radiologist is going to find a CT scan so normal as to not recommend colonoscopy especially in the United States with litigation is always on the mind of the physician. I do not believe there is any reason to delay having your colonoscopy beyond completely healing up from your hysterectomy and for da Vinci hysterectomy - eight weeks is probably sufficient. You can discuss this matter with your oncologist and internist. I know you feel like you're been through a lot and it's perfectly okay to take a couple months break but I do think you need to proceed with standard cancer screening recommendations especially given your history.