My results from my CT scan came back normal yesterday. I have been rejoicing non-stop over this. While I feel as if I have everything to be thankful for, I remain in constant discomfort. My thought was that anything "horrible" would show up in the CT scan. Am I wrong about this?

I feel that you all on this message board are more straightforward with your knowledge and I am very thankful for each morsel of wisdom and advice I have read on here.

Please, in your opinions, should I feel as if I have been given a green light? My pain could possibly be from scar tissue from a previous surgery. My fatigue could be due to the fact that I am a 42 year old mom of 4 young kids. I have been so very active all of my life that perhaps getting older is catching up with me and I can deal with that. I have always been very much into health and staying fit. Now I feel like an 80 year old woman.

My quesition is: Could a colonscopy show something that the CT scan didn't? I was thinking that the CT scan was the top-notch thing to do that would reveal the most truths about what was going on in there. My doctor's appt. to discuss the next move is a couple weeks away....meanwhile I am still in pain.

Any advice?
Thanks a million.

I believe a colonoscopy would be the definitive test of the two. A clear CT scan is a good sign too. If anyone in your family has ever been diagnosed with colon cancer or a history of polyps, I would definately go through with the colonoscopy. It allows them to see first hand what is going on and biopsy anything suspicious. You didn't mention where you felt discomfort or your other symptoms. Good luck! :wave:

A CAT scan will not show what is going on within the colon. It will only show if you have a large tumor pressing on the colon walls, causing them to thicken or enlarge; or if the colon has been perforated and something is growing outside. To detect any abnormal polyps or stage I or II colon cancer, the colonoscopy is the gold standard. A CAT scan cannot see what is doing inside the length of the colon. Please have a colonoscopy to rule out a problem in that area. You mention perimenopause - if your discomfort is in the lower abdomen an ultrasound of the uterus or endometrial biopsy of the lining of the uterus might be indicated.
Leslie

If I were you I'd still go for the scope. It's the only sure way and really not a difficult procedure. 42 would be a good age to have your first test anyways.

I agree with the others here any change in your stool should be followed up with a colonoscopy. It is the only definitive way to know what is really going on in your colon. Don't take chances with your health. :angel:

Thanks so much for all the input. In my ignorance I was just going to sit back, endure the discomfort and take my time to even get to a follow-up appt. with my doctor. I figured I was good to just put it off, but now I will call tomorrow and take care of it. Better safe than sorry.

I am thankful for everyone who is caring enough to take time to offer advice and support to each other on this healthboard.

Penny, Good for your smart decision. I tried to get out of having my first colonoscopy done even when I know I had symptoms that needed checking. Thanks to a caring PCP who pushed me to go see the GI my rectal ca was discovered early and I was cured after chemo/radiation therapy then surgery.

I'm not suggesting you have cancer, but it's better to deal with things quickly and get on with your life. Let us know how you make out. :bouncing:

Harrysgirl, if you don't mind my asking...just what were your symptoms?

I knew I sometimes had blood on the toilet paper, but figured it was just hemorrhoids. I also had a change in my bowel habits but I thought what was because I had been exercising more. I was dead set against going for the scope. I just didn't want anyone sticking anything in me, I thought it would be embarassing also. Well it would have been if I was awake. But, with the sedation I was given I went out like a light and didn't feel or know a thing. I awoke after and asked when it was going to start. :rolleyes: I am now a big advocate of getting a colonoscopy if you have any symptoms, a family history, or no symptoms and turn 50 years old! If a polyp is found and removed it will not have the chance to turn into cancer which it might otherwise. :angel:

What are your symptoms?

Well...first of all, from what I have read it seems that colon cancer most usually cannot be "felt", until later stages. If this is true, then I guess either don't have it or it's NOT in the early stanges.

Today, for istance, I have had constant, non-stop pain in my lower left back and it is so painful that it seems to reach down the back of my leg to my knee.

Last night sharp pains in my lower pelvic area...actually...lower than pelvic...really, really low...kept waking me up. Mostly on that left side.

All of this began about three months ago when a sudden sharp pain hit me to the point of doubling over and I couldn't straighten up to walk for a few hours. This pain started on the right side, but within a day it was located mostly on the left. Now I have pain on both sides, but nothing like that first time it hit me.

My stool has changed a lot. Either diarrhea or very thin. OR it has a very odd shape...like groves or something.

I thought it was all gyno-problems so I went to my doctor only to find that it was too early for my exam to be covered by insurance so I just kept putting it off. I fianally got in to see my doctor a couple of weeks ago. That's when I found that nothing could be "felt" and I went for the CT scan to find it to be normal. And I know beyond a shawdow of a doubt that what I am feeling is not "normal". Not MY normal, anyway.

I called my doctor to day to schedule a colonoscopy, but he will be gone for two days. I'll hook up with him when he gets back.

Have you ever heard of this back/leg on the left side pain before?
Is it strange to have pain both in front and in back also?
Plus I am feeling so, so tired.
In fact...what am I doing up at this hour????

Forgive me for my lengthy description of symptoms. I sure wish I knew what this was.

There are early signs of colon cancer. I was diagnosed at 36, and I had a significant amount of blood in my stools and general lethargia. From what you've said, I think you should get a colonoscopy, just to ease your anxiety. Only this test will definitely determine the health of your colon, not a CATscan. I think they must have done the CATscan, to rule out any large mass in another part of the body. After I was diagnosed with colon cancer, which was caught early, thank God, during the colonoscopy, then, I had a CATscan, lung x-ray, blood work up, and rectal ultrasound, to make sure there was no matasteses. I've now had 5 colonoscopies in all. It's not that bad of a test. The prep is a challenge. I'm a survivor, because I went in early. This doesn't mean you have cancer, but "If in doubt, check it out." Wishing you all the best...