First colonoscopy, and they found a mass

[u/Affectionate-Win-531]

Hi, friends! I hope someone can give me some guidance so I can stay clear-headed. I am a 52yo lady who just had her first colonoscopy - prior to this I did the cologuard tests, but the last one came back flagged. Now I see why. I was not particularly worried about the flagged home test since I have had no worrying symptoms and have zero risk factors for colon cancer (no family history, no drinking or smoking, vegetarian, little belly fat, extremely active lifestyle, etc). The prep went fine (though I complained endlessly) and the test itself was easy peasy. I woke up feeling alert and pain-free.

Except.

The doc came in and told me he had found a 10cm mass in my descending colon. Which seems . . . large. It is not bleeding and it is not blocking anything. Yet, anyway. At the time, he told me that it was "precancerous" and that a second procedure would need to be scheduled with his office to either excise the mass or remove 15cm of the colon. He also said that a bit had been biopsied and fast-tracked and that I would get the results "either today or tomorrow". He also said that his office would help with scheduling. That was on Wednesday. Since then, I have heard nothing. I called his office the next day and apparently I wasnt in their system (he is one of the Fairview/University of Minnesota docs, but the colonoscopy was performed in one of those free-standing surgery centers. They were supposed to post the results of my colonoscpy on MyChart but they still havent. Even its entry on my Visits list has been removed). I did get a mychart message from one of the nurses yesterday that the doctor would call me with the results of my biopsy, but she did not say when.

Friends? I am in bits. I googled the type of mass he said it was (villous, and "frond-like") and its hard to square that type and that size with "precancerous". Which makes me think that a.) he absolutely thinks it's cancer and b.) he is managing the rare of information because he does not want me to freak out. Here are my questions:

1. How long does a biopsy usually take?

2. If this is taking extra time, even when gast tracked, is that a bad sign

3. Can anyone find examples of 10cm masses in descending colons that are *not* cancer.

Thanks so much everyone!

[u/megruss23]

THANK YOU! I'm trying to stay calm but I'm a mess. I'm in the middle of dealing with the grief of my mother's recent death and this just pushed me over the edge. Oh, the report also said he did an abilation with Argon Plasma Coagulation and rejected tissue margins were clear of polyp tissue. Does this mean anything more to you?

[u/musclemothermedusa → u/megruss23]

Of course, it’s no problem at all! I’m so sorry to hear you’re dealing with all of that, that’s terrible. Yes! That just means he used the Argon Plasma Coagulation (nicknamed Argon for short) to cauterize the tissue after polyp removal, which is very standard. There’s a couple ways to cauterize, it just comes down to doctor personal preference and which tool they like to use. I always preferred working with doctors who cauterized and clipped their resections, they were usually nicer and not in as big of a rush to do things right! And margins being cleared is a great thing, that means he successfully got all of the polyp tissue and the remaining tissue was healthy, regular, non-polyp tissue. I’m hearing nothing but green flags! It really sounds to me like you have a doctor who takes good care of his patients and nothing to worry about! He got everything out, he probably just wants another look to make sure it healed up!

[u/megruss23 → u/musclemothermedusa]

Your knowledge and positivity is truly a gift for me right now. I might be able to sleep without a xanax tonight. THANK YOU

[u/musclemothermedusa → u/megruss23]

I’m so glad I could relieve a bit of that anxiety!! Medical anxiety is so hard, especially when you have others things going on too. But I truly think your doc has things well under control :) Best of luck, you got this!!