Most gastroenterologists don’t choose their subspecialty based on its inherent glamour. The nitty-gritty of GI doctors’ work may not make for good party talk, but gastroenterology does afford its practitioners the opportunity to take care of a wide range of patients — young and old, male and female, and with a diverse set of problems ranging from heartburn to colon cancer. A big part of gastroenterology involves performing screening colonoscopies to look for and remove colon polyps that could develop into cancer. Sometimes when we look into the colon, however, we find the unexpected.
The patient in question, let’s call him Jasper, was a 55-year-old man who had developed some intermittent abdominal discomfort and a feeling of heaviness in the right lower quadrant of his belly. The symptoms had been present for some time and were mentioned only to his primary care doctor in response to some standard questions about his overall health. As Jasper had never had a screening colonoscopy (and was well overdue to have one — most patients need their first screening colonoscopy at age 50 and every few years thereafter), he was referred to me for an evaluation. Given these facts, and because a colonoscopy is also part of the standard workup of lower abdominal pain, I scheduled him for the procedure.
When Jasper arrived in the endoscopy unit, he looked quite robust and healthy. On questioning him, he reported no other troubles beyond those that he mentioned to his primary care physician. After obtaining his informed consent for the procedure, he was sedated, and we began his colonoscopy.
