# Question about Colonoscopies



## ibsdurango (Jun 5, 2006)

I had one last year. Everything came back clean. No polyps or anything. I am paranoid however as my mother had colon cancer in her early 40s.Are regular (as opposed to virtual colonoscopies) ever falsely negative? I am a hypochondriac and just worry too much but that thought has gone through my mind as I deal with an uptick in my IBS symptoms.


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## 16226 (Apr 4, 2007)

Anyone know if all the polyps are removed. My doctor has told be that they are too many to remove and he sends some for biopsies anyway.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There is always a chance they can miss something, but then it would likely be very small and not likely to be a problem before you next routine colonoscopy.Usually in people who get cancer that early you wouldn't miss dozens and dozens of them. To get colon cancer before 50 usually someone has a genetic issues that causes them to form excessively large number of polyps at an early age. That, they wouldn't miss.I could see that in a situation where there are lots of them they may not be able to remove them all. I would think they would take the ones of a size or appearance that they could be a problem out and check them with a biopsy.K.


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## ibsdurango (Jun 5, 2006)

Thanks!


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## 22299 (Apr 7, 2005)

My GI dr. told me it takes about 10 years for colon cancer to grow. Usually, if you have NO family history and you have a clear colonoscopy, they will tell you to come back in 10 years. However, depending on your family history, they may say sooner. For example, I have 2 uncles on mom's side that died from this. Mom has had it, my brother had part of his colon removed and my sis has had several precancerous polyps. Therefore I, unfortunately, have to have one every 2-3 years because my family may grow cancer faster. It depends on how many primary and secondary family members have been affected by it. They score it somehow. If only my uncles had died from it and no one else in my family had it, I might have to have them every 5-6 years. By having them so often, my dr. would find anything at the beginning stages.


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