by NeuropathicGuy » 02 Jul 2010, 15:47
Hey Runnerman, why the specific concern over cancer? Just curious. Anal fissures suck real bad but they're almost never how cancer presents. Unless there's some other history here, I wouldn't worry too much about that possibility. Honestly if a fissure were a presentation of some other disease, it'd more likely be either Crohn's or ulcerative colitis. Doesn't mean it's not possible to be a sign of cancer, of course, but biopsies aren't fun either and shouldn't be done unless there's some strong suspicion...
BTW don't get me wrong, it's 100% normal to be worried about both the fissure and LIS. When my fissure was real bad and I had a lot of bleeding during BMs, I was very worried that it was colon cancer. I had a colonoscopy and an abdominopelvic CT scan done just to make sure there wasn't anything else going on. Also, LIS was my first surgery ever and I was totally freaked out in the days leading up to it. The day of the procedure my anxiety was completely through the roof and I kept debating whether I should show up or not.
I guess what I'm saying is that being real worried is perfectly normal, but you've already got an injury there, please be careful about getting biopsies done unless there's a real good reason to.
When is your surgery BTW? Sorry if you mentioned it before and I missed it. If thinking about it is messing with your sleep real bad there are anti-anxiety drugs your doctor can give you for short term use in the days leading up to it. Also, if you're just freaking out once you arrive at the surgery center, you can ask the anesthesiologist to give you IV sedatives (normally Versed) early.