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Hi

I had a colonoscopy in June 2018 and they found a single sessile serrated polyp which was removed piecemeal and so they said I would need to have another colonoscopy in 6 month's time to ensure that it had been fully removed.

Well, it was actually last week that I had the repeat - 2nd April 2019. The procedure was awful and took over an hour because they had found another 5 flat polyps in the sigmoid region which they had extreme difficulty in removing; one of them is still in situ as I need to go back and have it removed under GA in 3-6 month's time.

One of the polyps was 20mm in size - is this big and did it grow in the last 9 months as apparently there was no sign of it last time

Polyps tend to grow slowly over several years - sessile serrated polyps which you have mentioned can be very difficult to spot, particularly if the bowel preparation (the laxative you take to clear out your bowels) hasn't worked completely. They can also hide under bits of mucus. A 20mm polyp is sizeable and unlikely to have grown in 9 months, but as mentioned - sessile serrated lesions are difficult to find and also can be difficult to remove.

The polyps, when removed are sent for histology where they are inspected under a microscope - this will tell us exactly what they are and how frequently you need to have future colonoscopies. It is not common to have to repeat it every 6 months - but once they are all removed - then the time in between each procedure will lengthen. There are guidelines developed by the british society of gastroenterology which endoscopy departments follow in regards to the length of time in between each procedure (and based on the findings). Make sure you drink plenty of fluid during your bowel preparartion and good luck!