Another success story for the IES

I, like many of the others in the stories told in this blog, had an unusual lateral growth and could have ended up with a colostomy and a lesser quality of life. I was fortunate to be steered in the right direction and ended up at Dr. Binmoeller’s Interventional Endoscopy Center. Backtracking a bit (age 56), during a routine colonoscopy in 2010, my gastroenterologist found a laterally spreading polyp that he was unsuccessful in removing. He referred me to a surgeon who was also unsuccessful in removing it. Unfortunately, the surgeon did not tell me that he had left much of the polyp behind, and it continued to grow over the next 5 years to the next routine colonoscopy. Last year (age 61), I scheduled a colonoscopy with a different gastroenterologist, Dr. Levitt. After reviewing the paperwork from my previous 2 procedures, Dr. Levitt performed the colonoscopy and found a much larger laterally spreading polyp; pieces of it were 6 cm in length. Fortunately, Dr. Levitt knew of Dr. Binmoeller and his ground-breaking endoscopy procedures and he set up a referral. The following month, Dr. Binmoeller reviewed all previous procedures and informed me that due to the large amount of scar tissue, he may not be able to completely remove the mass. But, after a 2 hour endoscopic mucosal resection, Dr. Binmoeller happily reported that he thought he was able to remove it all. 2 weeks ago, I came back for a 6-month return check. There were still a few remaining small spots, which he removed, but overall everything looked healthy and clean of any growths. I will come back in 6 months for my final check-up and expect a clean bill of health. What I learned from this experience is that sometimes there are existing options of which your doctor may not be aware. When provided a solution that does not sound acceptable (such as a colostomy), check with other sources first to see if there are other options. Thank you, Dr. Binmoeller!!