Bowel Cancer Screening Test positive

Thank you Grandyma. I’m sorry to hear you’re affected like this too. It’s like a form of torture for us worriers isn’t it?

As I’ve said in earlier posts, it’s the outcome which scares me - I can live with the awfulness of the procedure, although I will opt for the sedation as many have suggested.

I’d be interested to find out if there are others who react pragmatically and take these things in their stride and don’t panic in the way we do? Anyone?

With regard to your colonoscopy appointment would it help if you phoned the appointments office at your local hospital and asked how long the wait will be. Find out from the horse's mouth...so to speak. You could also tell them you'd be willing to take a short notice cancellation.
This morning I had a call asking if I'd be available to take a cancellation on Thursday. (Not for colonoscopy).

Regarding the preparation drink it's not a pleasant taste but neither is it dire. It's just that there's so much of it. At my colonoscopy procedure the doctor told me that my intestines were beautifully clean and a pleasure to work with. All was well and I thoroughly enjoyed the tea and toast.
I didn't take any sedation so I could drive home.
I wish you well and look forward to hearing from you following your procedure. All will be ok.
Never worry about posting for reassurance. That's what we're here for.

Coolgran thanks. I’m booked in to speak to the screening practitioner tomorrow by video call so should know more.

Congratulations on your beautifully clean intestines! Really glad all went well for you. Hopefully I will be able to say the same soon. 😊

I coped with some recent extreme anxiety with Melatonin to help me sleep (I think you need a prescription for this) but this is not an addictive anti -depressant like Valium for example. I also took during the day a medium strength CBD oil , the type without hallucinogenic properties, and this helped me although might not help you.Again CBD oil is not addictive I don't think.
CBD oil is not "drugs".
Goes without saying your doctors need to know about anything you're taking just in case you have to stop them before your procedure.

Thanks Labradora, strangely, I’m sleeping quite well at the moment. Partly I think because I’m exhausted with all the worrying and I think that subconsciously I can escape from things while I’m asleep.

I’ve started to feel a bit calmer and hopefully I’ll get some reassurance when I’ve spoken to the screening practitioner tomorrow

Sillyoldbird, I have had lots of colonoscopies, had bowel cancer and have a stoma. Yes I am pragmatic, it is what it is and I have to live with it, I never said "why me" ?

Harrigran I admire you. that’s just how I’d like to be . For the sake of people around me as much as anything but I don’t know how to change what I am

Have had my appointment with screening nurse just now. I have colonoscopy appointment next Wednesday so not too much of a wait and probably as quick as I could could get privately, especially as there’s the preparation to do - low carb diet etc.

She was very nice but they’re not really allowed to veer off the script and give the kind of reassurance I need (stop worrying, you’ll be fine, I promise ) .

She did stop me worrying about my wine habit though. In my silly mind I have convinced myself that my weekend enjoyment is excessive and I have caused myself to have bowel cancer. She said not and suggested I have a drink to relax myself and go for a long walk.

Good advice I think.

That’s great news, very quick. Have you thought about taking Kalms tablets through the day. I take these if my anxiety gets the better of me, they take the edge off, that and listening to music or a podcast. Good luck .

So pleased for you that you now have a date, good luck with it all

Thanks Katy’s and nanaK54. So relieved and grateful it’s so quick

Please come back and let us know how you get on. So pleased to hear you don’t have long to wait 💐

Grandyma I will, thanks

Just doing the weekly on-line shopping and based on the advice on here, I have toilet wipes, Vaseline and Kalms on order 😳

Sillyoldbird. You will be back on here next week saying you don’t know what you were worried about. So many friends have said that to me after I’ve told them it’s not a horrible procedure and the staff are brilliant at reassuring you.

I hope you’re right Primrose53. As I’m said a few times, it’s not the procedure, it’s the outcome I fear.
Thanks for the reassurance 😘

Sillyoldbird

Of course we all worry about things but personally I try not to let worry overwhelm me to the exclusion of all else. Worry tends to come about when you are not in possession of all the facts.

To me extreme worry/anxiety is an unhelpful emotion, driving all sorts of speculative/negative thoughts and behaviours, and to what gain?

Having worked in the NHS for 44 years I've seen and heard about most things: been with patients whilst they have faced a devastating diagnosis, seen patients with catastrophic life changing injuries and spent time with patients who have no-one to care for them in the most basic sense.

It tends to put any worry I have into perspective. And if I do start to worry about something I try to bring it back to basics and remind myself that I have a loving family, I have hot and cold running water, I have a secure roof over my head, I have heating and light and can afford to pay my bills. I have enough food and I have assets that can be sold to raise money for me or mine if needed. I can dress and feed myself, take myself to the loo, I can walk and play and live independently.

If you can change an outcome with worry then go ahead, but if you can't then let it go and focus your energy on something else.

P.S: I'll let you into a secret. I worry a lot about a new (currently very immature) hedge that has been planted by some new homeowners near where I live. Their garden is on a corner of a busy T junction (opposite a primary school) and adjacent to a main road with no pavement. The previous homeowners used the slightly raised flat area as a veggie patch with no boundary hedge. Sight lines in both directions were good for pulling out against oncoming traffic.
Once the new hedge thickens out (and judging by the way they do not maintain the rest of the garden I suspect they may 'forget' to cut the hedge adjacent to the road) the sight lines will be obscured making it very difficult to see oncoming traffic.
So it worries me. Can I change it? Well I could put a polite letter through their letterbox and see what happens. I'm sure other users of that junction (particularly those on the school run) will also find it problematic, so it may get raised by them anyway.
My husband says 'let it go'!! if it becomes a problem we can avoid that junction and take a slightly different route out to the main road'.

Sillyoldbird

I hope you’re right Primrose53. As I’m said a few times, it’s not the procedure, it’s the outcome I fear.
Thanks for the reassurance 😘

My mother used to say "Don't meet trouble halfway". Not easy, but I hope you can try.
🙂

SuperTinny you’re absolutely right of course. My daughter is a health professional (ODP) and her philosophy is more akin to yours.

Though I didn’t work in a health setting, I supported people in the most tragic social circumstances which certainly helped me to see how fortunate I am myself.

The problem for me is that, despite knowing this, and despite past counselling, self-help and occasionally medication, I still really struggle to get things into perspective when it comes to health concerns. At times, I literally don’t know how to stop the worries from overwhelming me, though I do try my hardest.

That said, after the initial panic, I am now starting to get a grip so perhaps I’m not a lost cause?

I don’t get worried about the same things as you by the looks of it as I’d probably take a pair of shears to the hedge myself!

Callistemon21 I love that expression - my new mantra perhaps?

Not just for this but for other aspects of life

👍

Sillyoldbird

Only posting this as it’s quite therapeutic to write things down. Replies very welcome but please don’t feel you have to.

Had a couple of better days since I last posted followed by a difficult one today. So I am trying really hard to keep in mind the hard facts: 91% of people referred for further investigation after a + result don’t have cancer. In addition, I know for a fact I have at least one of the many possible causes.

This would be enough for most people to feel significantly reassured, but isnt working for me just now. I feel very annoyed at myself.

Ok, so why not consider how it would be if you got the very worst news?

What would you do?
Run screaming, or refuse to listen, or smash up the place?

Or, would you grit your teeth, take whatever is recommended, and get through it, a day, or an hour at a time?

MisssAdventure I’ve thought of little else and I know that I would just get on with it like everyone else has to.

Its good that your mind will contemplate the idea

Were you busier for the last couple of days than you are today?
I'm not making light of your worries, so I hope it doesnt come across that way.

Incidentally, my daughter always swore by rescue remedy, if she felt a bit panicky.