Dear Linda

Welcome to the board.  I am sorry that your mother has been treated in such a shabby way!  I always thought that the surgeon who does these kinds of procedures, talks to you when you wake up & also schedule a follow up appointment to discuss the findings & talk about any other issues that might arise.  I do live in Australia, and have discovered there are a few differences to how our two medical systems work.

I suggest that you read all the available information on the IAS site, as well as read as many of the stories on the quilt that you can.  If you have specific questions after that, post them here & then someone will try to answer them, or recommend an article etc for you to read.  Helen Dynda is a font of information and is always posting interesting pieces of information.

It is a concern for you I'm sure that the colonoscopy done 2 years ago didn't happen because of scarring, and that the specialist did nothing to follow up!  Was the colonoscopy a routine thing because of the history of cancer in the family?  If so, I would be really kicking up a storm about this "medical professional", who should certainly have known better!

I hope you and your mother find the answers to the many questions you must have, please let us know how you are getting on, we offer friendship & support here

Yours in friendship

Jo (Australia)