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Preventing sessile serrated adenomas

Posted by peacefish @peacefish, Nov 21, 2023

Hi everyone. I just had my first screening colonoscopy. Female, age 45, thin, don’t smoke or drink, vegetarian, exercise daily, no family history of colon problems. They found 3 large sessile serrated polyps (15mm, 15mm, and 20mm), removed two with a hot snare and scheduled me 3 months out to grab the last one. Pathology says not cancer, but I am reading how hard these are to find and completely remove. And how often they grow back and become cancer… Yikes. I feel like cancer is inevitable as I have no risk factors, I already do what you’re supposed to do to avoid colon cancer, and still have these huge scary precancerous lesions. What are people supposed to do to prevent these things from coming back (besides asking your doctor to please put you on annual colonoscopy for surveillance)? I just started drinking 4 cups of green tea daily and will soon be taking daily fiber. I also just read I should stop taking my calcium supplements. Should I take aspirin regularly? I just have no idea what I should be doing. My biggest goal has suddenly become just to reach my 70’s with an intact colon.

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photobell88 | @photobell88 | 6 hours ago
In reply to @peacefish "My first colonoscopy was in November 2023. Of course there were no symptoms beforehand, so I..." + (show)
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My first colonoscopy was in November 2023. Of course there were no symptoms beforehand, so I was shocked they found anything at all (also given the lack of risk factors). I noticed no difference whatsoever after the removal of the adenomas. If they hadn’t shown me the before/after photos of every location, I would have had no indication that anything had transpired at all.
The recommended monitoring frequencies for these things are pretty formulaic, and the number and size of SSA’s have a lot to do with the interval each person’s doctor will set. I definitely encourage sending a message to your doctor if you want to ask about the interval they’ve set for you. They can at least explain it, and that may set your mind at ease.
I stressed myself out initially, and I read too much. I think the thing that helped most mentally was that first ‘anniversary’ colonoscopy after the adenomas had been removed when they could ‘check their work’ and look for anything new. Once you pass that anniversary without anything particularly bad showing up, it becomes easier to conceptualize it all as a thing to be managed.

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@peacefish

Can you share the name of your doctor and the hospital that provided your treatment. I have recently been diagnosed with a cancerous sessile polyp in the appendicle orifice. Looking to find a competent surgeon experienced in this type of surgery since I have had multiple adnominal surgeries in the past.

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