So I guess I wanted to talk a bit about what's going on with my health. There's been a lot of problems with my stomach since February and a bump in my stomach since April. I went to have it checked out and still nobody knows what it is.

But they scheduled all sorts of different tests and procedures just to he safe. One of which was a Colonoscopy, which I had about a month ago. After I had it, the doctor said I should come back for another one in 5 years. But when I went back for the results, they said it was pretty bad and that I have to have one every 6 months to be safe.

Its weird because I went to the doctor for one thing but found and tried to fix something else that would have become cancer in a few years. But apparently it's something that needs to be repeatedly taken care of. I'm a bif worried about what could happen with this, plus I'm still worried about the bump that they still can't figure out.

Sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with your health, man. Something similar happened with one of my family members recently, and while I can't imagine being the one in the situation, I do know a bit about how rough it can be for someone to hear and experience that.

Hang in there. I'll be praying for you, and if you need to talk or anything you can always hit me up here, on Discord, or on PSN. If you use either of the last two I'll be notified of it right away, but any of the three are fine with me.

Wait, they stuck a tube up your butt to try to figure out your stomach? That doesn't make much sense, zan...

thing1 :

It's actually fairly standard procedure. A colonoscopy is done to help figure out any unexplained pains in the abdominal region (among other things).

The way the body works, there are few things that can be done to properly investigate underneath the skin. For the type of issue zanderlex is having, a colonoscopy probably made the most sense (and is generally recommended, though usually it happens more in your 30s/40s than in your 20s).

With the camera providing good images for the doctor in question, they can more acutely narrow down what the issue may be. It could be an ulcer, it could be cancer. It could be a lot of things, and it's really not the type of thing you want to just guess at. Colonoscopies are accurate, but invasive.

It really does make sense.

legacyme3 : I suppose it does. But if zanderlex is saying the pain is in his stomach, not his butt or colon, sticking something up his butt doesn't make much sense to me. 

Then again, the doctor's refuse to fix my knees and back. I wouldn't be surprised if the VA decides to stick somethign up my butt, and tries to say "This will help us fix your herniated disc."

thing1 :

The colon is in the same relative area of the stomach, and the "region" known as the stomach to laypeople, contains the colon.

When people go into doctor's offices complaining about stomach pain, they often misdiagnose themselves. There's a non-zero chance that the pain zanderlex is feeling is in his colon, because of the relatively close nature of the two organs.

Your knees and back have zero to do with a colonoscopy, so I'm not sure why you would equate the two things. Any doctor that attempted to give you a colonoscopy probably skipped something in medical school.

But "stomach" issues? Either a colonoscopy or an upper endoscopy make sense. A colonoscopy would have been my recommendation, again, because there's too great a chance it has to do with a tumor, cancer, or ulcer, or even something worse that requires immediate attention. If the results come back negative, then I'd probably suggest an upper endoscopy (but this is less common, from my knowledge).

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zanderlex :

Good on you for actually going through with it.

Having done my research on the topic in the past, I can believe that it's a scary time for you. Just make sure you take care of yourself.

legacyme3 : It was a joke about my lack of knowledge in the subject, and the notoritiy of the V.A. Heath Care system being horrible. 

tornadocam : The doctor did an endoscopy a while back and found a hernia but they said this kind wasn't major and is normal.

zanderlex : That really sucks about your health problems regarding your stomach area, if I remember, I had something related to stomach issues back when I was really young that almost ended my life, but manage to survive the whole ordeal. Although I don't remember a whole lot because I was like around 6 at the time, and that being 19 years ago.

But hope things get better on your end.