Mess pants with no warning, nausea, pain, lost 19 kilos in 12months. Had colonoscopy, diagnosed with diviticular disease. More tests needed?
Patient: Hi my name is Sue and I have had a few colonoscapies and have been diagnosed with diviticular disese and 12 months ago i was given another colonoscopy and had 30 plus polyops on the diviticular and always have infection and mess my pants with no warning, I feel nausious a lot and the smell of food cooking makes me feel sick, I also have lot of pain and in the 12 months have lost 19 kilos, What should I do as the sergeons want to do more tests but the last sergeon I went to didnt want to so another colonoscopy due to being afraid he may perferate my bowel Doctor: Dear Sue. You are not just suffering from diverticular disease but also polyposis of the colon, a condition in which multiple polyps form in the colon and sometimes in the small bowel. Some of these polyps may with time develop cancer. Your having pain and weight loss are not good signs and more in favour of cancer development. I am assuming that the polyps that have been removed previously were sent for biopsy and that none of them showed cancer. I would advise you to first undergo a contrast enhanced CT scan of the abdomen. That will give us a fair idea of what we are dealing with and if there is any evidence of cancer development. Also, a colonoscopy is advisable (before the CT) but only by an experienced gastroenterologist in whose hands it shouldnt be a problem.