You may have noticed that the recently departed month of March was Colon Cancer Awareness Month. During the month, there were a number of stories urging anyone over 50 to go in for routine screening to detect the polyps that can turn into colon cancer.

I paid particular attention because I have been on a journey of discovery about colon polyps, and I’ve learned some things they don’t tell you in those commercials promising that regular screening will keep you safe from bad consequences.

I started regular screenings right after my 50th birthday, and I have been totally compliant with repeat screenings as they have come due. I’ve lost a husband and more than a few friends to colon cancer, and it isn’t something I want to experience. I thought those routine screenings meant I was safe. At the worst, there would be a polyp or two that would be removed during the process, and the worst thing that would happen was I might have to undergo more frequent screening that folks who never had polyps.

So, I was pretty surprised on Feb. 15 when I went in for a post-colonoscopy doctor’s appointment expecting to be told to eat more fiber and less red meat.

Instead, I was told that the exam had located a polyp that could not be removed during colonoscopy. Some fragments were pinched off and sent for biopsy, which showed it was not yet cancerous but likely to become cancer. It would have to be surgically removed, the doctor said.

The surgeon pulled out a sheet of paper and created a crude drawing of the human colon. “Here,” he said, putting an X at almost the very end near the attachment to the small intestine, “is where your troublesome polyp lies. And this,” he said, putting an X somewhere in the middle of the drawing, “is where we will cut it and pull out everything, including a piece of the small intestine. Then we’ll cut again and stitch the two pieces back together and you’ll be fine. Probably only be in the hospital for a few days, barring complications. Maybe a few loose stools, a little more gas than you’re used to, but no big deal.”

 “That seems like an awful lot,” I said, doubtfully.

“Nah, not really,” he said. “Only maybe three feet. You have way more colon that you need. Now, let’s get the surgery scheduled. The good thing is if you get it right away, you probably won’t need chemotherapy or radiation or anything.”

I sat there for a few minutes starting at the drawing and the at the pathology report, which was full of a lot of terms I didn’t understand, such as “cellular atypia” and “mitotic activity” and “high-grade dysplasia.”

I felt like I’d been hit with a hammer. He kept asking if I wanted to schedule surgery, saying “it can’t stay there; it will be cancer soon if it isn’t already.”

I wanted to go home.

“I need a little time to think,” I said. My brain was screaming “Second Opinion.”

So, I went home and like any good patient, I got on the internet and started looking up terms. I scanned the pathology report and fired it off to doctors I know personally. I called my primary care doctor.

I got an email back from a family practice doctor. “This not an emergency,” it said. “Yes, this is the kind of polyp that can become cancerous but it takes a long, long time. And surgery is not your only option.” He recommended calling major academic medical centers and asking about Endoscopic Mucosal Resection.

And that’s how I found Dr. G.S. Raju at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and subsequently learned a lot of things about colon polyps.

First of all, it is not unusual for some of the most dangerous polyps to be totally missed during your routine colonoscopy. Those are polyps that lie flat against the colon wall, rather than standing up kind of like a mushroom. Some of them are even embedded in the lining of the colon and are almost invisible. You don’t know they are there and neither does your doctor. Until, that is, “something” happens to call attention to them, or they get big enough to be readily seen.

Second, not all polyps can be removed when discovered during routine colonoscopy, particularly the flat kind. However, almost all of them can be removed by a doctor trained in the advanced endoscopic procedure called Endoscopic Mucosal Resection.

I called M.D. Anderson, opened a new patient file and made an appointment.

On April 10, I underwent an EMR procedure. Dr. Raju removed the entire problematic polyp. I went back to my hotel room that night with instructions to check back in with him the next afternoon. On April 12, I came home and was back to work on April 13. On April 14, I got a phone call — the pathology report on the polyp showed no sign of cancer. What I did not do is lose half my colon, my appendix, a piece of my small intestine and my ileocecal valve to get rid of a benign polyp measuring roughly 2.5 centimeters, or about 1 inch long.

I don’t usually reveal very many personal medical details. But I think in this case, it is important to spread the word. Colon polyps are not always easy to find or to remove. But most of time, radical surgery isn’t the only option for getting rid of them.

Endoscopic Mucosal Resection is an alternative that is less expensive, less likely to result in complications, and much, much faster to recover from. And now that you know my story, I hope it helps you if you ever face a similar situation.