I don't know the answer to your question. Maybe an internist? However, in my experience sometimes the best doctor for a situation like yours depends more on the personality of the doctor than the specialty.

Many years ago my son was having a medical problem that was hard to diagnose and we saw several doctors in different specialties. Every doctor seemed to look at the situation w/regard to his own specialty and never the big picture.

My son had an allergist who came across as a bit of an arrogant jerk. I never would have guessed it beforehand, but the more trouble we had, the nicer and more interested the allergist got. He understood exactly what I meant when I said each doctor just looked at his own little piece, and my son really needed a doctor to coach the whole situation.

So the allergist became the one to manage the big picture, really just because he was the one most interested and willing to do it.

I hope you find something that works for you.

It used to be that your general practitioner would act as the clearing house for test results and scans and as the central communication point and referring physician. It's rare to find a GP who has the time and interest to do that these days.

You might check with your insurance to see if they have a patient advocacy program of the sort where a medical professional will attend appointments with you and help you sort through your options.

Thank you both.

Daisy -- I'm glad the allergist took an interest. My late MIL was an RN and hospital administrator. She claimed being an allergist made great business sense because, "Your patients don't get well and they don't die on you." I'm not certain that's changed a lot since she said it (about 1960), although I know she wouldn't have suffered as much with her RA today.

Fun2BHere --I don't really need my hand held at appointments as I have the colonoscopy/endoscopy record on a CD. I do need someone to 'give me some odds' about medical necessity. I'll try calling Medicare and our supplementary insurance to see if they can help. I would never have *thought* of that!

Do you have access to a large medical center, or a teaching hospital or a place like Mayo Clinic or John Hopkins? Sounds like you would prefer a second opinion with a Dr. who does not either know or practice with your doctors. Have you had a MRI or a pet scan? Not sure what they are looking for, and when I had my colonoscopy the gastric internist said I had some internal hemorrhoids and to stay away from any naproxen meds. Could that be a problem, only different terminology. ? I agree with you I too would want a person who just might know what they are talking about. I do wish you the best.

Best wishes to you, ChiSue. I know how frustrating it is to visit specialists who seem to only recommend treatment related to their specialties rather than looking at a patient and treatment as a whole.

Medicine is an art, not a science. I'm retired RN. Medical opinions are just that -- opinions. I recommend a second opinion. Or third. A second opinion spared me surgery and the problem was treated medically successfully. Docs do the best they can with their knowledge. Other Docs have other knowledge. They're human and can't know everything.

Im going to chime in here and ask you please to not ignore the polyps( not that you said you would). However I also had never had any kind of cancerous polyp or even a strong family history of cancer. I had a colonoscopy which was completely normal and four years later was found to have colon cancer. This happened 2 1/2 years ago and so far am doing well. Good luck with finding the medical professional to provide the information you need. Satine

What did the pathology of the polyp show? If it was cancerous, I would surely return for my second colonoscopy to make sure it was gone. As for the appendectomy, it really is a easy surgery to recover from. They usually do them laproscopically and the recovery time is minimal. Your appendix is attached to your colon so if you have a non-reachable polyp that should take care of it.

Getting a second opinion never hurts. I would take the pictures they should have given you and the pathology reports to a new gastroenterologist and see what he/she says. Good luck.

Clearly, my *head* also needs examining! I've now reviewed the GI report and photos. The second colonoscopy report says the 'bump' in question is "Likely benign sub-epithelial tumor at the appendiceal orifice vs inverted appendix."

I was mis-reading this to mean my 'bump' is on the *opposite side* of the colon from the appendix. The "vs" confused me. After googling for an hour I see that the GI means that he's seeing a likely benign tumor right at the opening to the appendix, and, further, that this is NOT an inverted appendix. (Medical literature says such a bump can look like it is the appendix itself that is poking out.) He recommends laparoscopic cecectomy/appendectomy.

This puts a completely different light on it for me. I guess I'll need to have my appendix AND my 'bump' surgically removed. I'll call call to make an appointment tomorrow. It could take one or two months to get on the schedule. At least Dr. Haggerty operates at two nearby hospitals. I believe he said I'd be in-patient for one or two nights.

Thanks to all of you for lending your ears. It helps a great deal!