I figured I should address this question because we have been asked this quite a bit. Sorry if there is a little too much information in this post. Unfortunately the area where my cancer is lends itself to some awkward or uncomfortable language. But, that's just how it goes.
Let me start by saying that I have had hemorrhoids since I had Aidynn. They bother me off & on, but really have never been a big problem. This past summer I started to have some pain after going poop. (I will say poop, it's what we say around here & sounds less formal than "bowel movement.") It didn't happen every time I went poop, just occasionally. And it wasn't bad pain, just a mild pain. I didn't have any trouble going poop, I am very regular that way, but the pain would come anywhere from 5-45 minutes after I had gone to the bathroom. (TMI? Sorry, not sorry.) I honestly just thought it was my hemorrhoids acting up again. Then it wouldn't happen for a couple of weeks. Well, by the fall it was happening more frequently. And by November it was happening often enough & getting more painful enough to where I called my doctor for an appointment.
I went to my general practitioner on December 1, 2015. I explained what had been going on. She did a digital exam (yes, that means finger exam up my butt) & she said she could feel an internal hemorrhoid. She said since it's internal she was referring me to the gastroenterologist.
I met with Dr. Weinberg, the gastroenterologist, in January (yes, the medical referrals & scheduling appointments take forever, it's very frustrating). He also did an exam & determined that the location of my pain was a small, hard mass that is in the spot where internal hemorrhoids are usually found, but it felt harder than a hemorrhoid feels. So he set me up for a colonoscopy.
I had the colonoscopy on January 29th. The prep really stinks, but the actual procedure was no big deal. And the report from that seemed good. My colon was clear. No tumors or polyps found. That was great news! There was only the spot in my rectum, right before my anus (are the words making you uncomfortable yet?) that looked abnormal. So he biopsied the area. And the results from his biopsy came back saying that it was scar tissue. Ok, that seemed strange...scar tissue in my butt? So he referred me to a rectal surgeon for further investigation.
We finally met with Dr. Nora Evans, the rectal surgeon, on February 22nd. By now my symptoms had gotten a lot worse. I was now uncomfortable a lot of the time when sitting & the pain was getting worse. I was ready for this surgeon to say she was just going to go in there, cut off this mass & then I could go about my life. She, however, had other plans. Dr. Evans told us that the biopsy that Dr. Weinberg had done was no good. It was inconclusive. So she told us she would have to do her own biopsy. The soonest we could get that scheduled was for March 23rd. Have I mentioned how frustrating it is to have to wait so long for referrals to be approved & appointments to be scheduled? Especially when you're dealing with pain every day.
So on March 23rd I went in for the "surgery." Now, nobody prepared me for this surgery. The doctor had made it seem like no big deal, a simple outpatient procedure. The procedure itself wasn't bad, they knocked me out. But when I woke up I was so nauseous & in a lot of pain & then started to throw up. It was horrible! Finally the anti-nausea & pain meds started working & I was able to go home. I'll spare you all of the gory details, but the recovery was not fun. It was at least a week before I even left the house. I was not prepared for that at all. I really wish the doctor had gone over the procedure a little bit more thoroughly with me. I had just assumed it would be easy like the biopsy during the colonoscopy. Lesson learned for me too-always ask the details even if you think you know what will be happening.
And on top of being in pain during recovery, we were told it would take 7-10 business days to get the biopsy results back. Let the waiting game begin...
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