I need help

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Nash123
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I need help

Postby Nash123 » Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:41 pm

Hello,

I am 29 years old and been having my stool getting constantly narrowed to the point its pensil thin. I was having rectal bleeding for 6 months and I was finally got a colonoscopy on Feb 4 but then I got to go to another province for work . Now finally got a colonoscopy coming next week Wednesday. I know you guys are not doctors. But can you tell me other than cancer what else can cause this issue. I just want to be prepared.... Thank you

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Jacques
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Re: I need help

Postby Jacques » Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:58 pm

The two most common causes of bright red blood in your stool are anal fissures and internal hemorrhoids...
Source: https://www.thehealthy.com/digestive-health/blood-in-stool/

I_will_fight
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Re: I need help

Postby I_will_fight » Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:13 pm

Nash123 wrote:Hello,

I am 29 years old and been having my stool getting constantly narrowed to the point its pensil thin. I was having rectal bleeding for 6 months and I was finally got a colonoscopy on Feb 4 but then I got to go to another province for work . Now finally got a colonoscopy coming next week Wednesday. I know you guys are not doctors. But can you tell me other than cancer what else can cause this issue. I just want to be prepared.... Thank you


Hi Nash, and sorry you are going through this.

Is there any history of colon or rectal cancer in your family? Though not impossible.29 yo is very young for CRC unless there is a genetic component in the family (such as Lynch)

If the blood is red it might be due to hemorrhoids or any kind of tearing in the rectum. I am not sure about the narrowing.

I know it is difficult, but try to be calm and above all do the colonoscopy preparation properly, the cleaner you colon is, the best the doctor can spot any suspect tissue.

Lets hope it turns out not to be cancer.
46 yo male Spain
06/2020 - 6cm T3N0M0 CC splenic flex
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Nash123
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Re: I need help

Postby Nash123 » Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:43 pm

Thank you for the reply. Now days I am constantly constipated and stool is coming in small particles. Day before yesterday I had metamusil and I had a strong rectal pain and I got black stool that was still thin and in broken particles. I ran to the Ed and they did a blood work and said everything is fine and that I should just wait for the coloncsopy. I am very worried. If people had similar symptoms please let me know.

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Green Tea
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Re: I need help

Postby Green Tea » Fri Apr 09, 2021 6:28 am

Nash123 wrote:... I got black stool that was still thin and in broken particles. I ran to the Ed and they did a blood work and said everything is fine and that I should just wait for the coloncsopy. I am very worried. If people had similar symptoms please let me know.

There are foods (e.g., licorice) and meds (e.g., Pepto-Bismol) that can produce black stool.
Reference: https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/black-tarry-stool-reasons

Nash123
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Re: I need help

Postby Nash123 » Mon Apr 12, 2021 2:33 am

Hello,
Thank you for the reply. Actually something weird happed after that day. My stool consistency went back a bit I mean I still feel a bit of constipation and stool size is a bit narrow. But this is nothing compared to before. Hopefully this week's coloncsopy will tell me what's going on.

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Green Tea
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Re: I need help

Postby Green Tea » Mon Apr 12, 2021 2:43 am

Nash123 wrote:... Now finally got a colonoscopy coming next week Wednesday. ... I just want to be prepared.... Thank you

So, are you all set up for a colonoscopy appointment on Wednesday, 14 April?

If so, here are some resources you can review before your appointment :


Nash123
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Re: I need help

Postby Nash123 » Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:34 pm

I have a question? I have my colonoscopy day after tomorrow . But I have to take a flight tommorw night. So I was wondering if it's okey to take the bowel medicine earlier? Because I don't want to have issues when I am in flight? Do you get bowel movements very fast Baxter taking the medicine or does it take time?

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Green Tea
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Re: I need help

Postby Green Tea » Tue Apr 13, 2021 6:59 am

Nash123 wrote:I have a question? I have my colonoscopy day after tomorrow . But I have to take a flight tomorrow night. So I was wondering if it's okey to take the bowel medicine earlier? Because I don't want to have issues when I am in flight? Do you get bowel movements very fast after taking the medicine or does it take time?

This sounds like a very difficult situation to me. Normally you would have to dedicate the whole night to taking the bowel medicine and cleaning out the colon, with multiple trips to the toilet throughout the night. The brochure below gives the steps that you usually have to take starting two days before your colonoscopy (see pages 6 &7):
http://www.westchestergi.com/docs/WCGI_colonoscopy_brochure.pdf

For the two days prior to colonoscopy there is not much leeway to do anything else except focus on the tasks that need to be done and to be very close to a toilet once you start taking the bowel prep medicine because its action can be very unpredictable. Frankly, I don't see how you could consider taking a flight in this time frame because you need to be focusing on the requirements of bowel cleansing during this period of time.

After your flight, when will you be able to be close to a toilet for an extended period of time? At what time is your colonoscopy appointment on Wednesday?

What kind of bowel prep medicine are you using? What are its instructions on when and how to use it?

Nash123
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Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:29 pm

Re: I need help

Postby Nash123 » Tue Apr 13, 2021 1:57 pm

They told me to take the medics earlier around noon right now. And it's half and half. With half today and half tommorw

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Green Tea
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Re: I need help

Postby Green Tea » Wed Apr 14, 2021 2:19 am

Good luck on your colonoscopy today. Be sure to ask for a printed report of the findings.

Nash123
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Re: I need help

Postby Nash123 » Thu Apr 15, 2021 12:14 pm

Just want to say the colonoscopy was done and everything is fine. They just found two poly , that's it.

DarknessEmbraced
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Re: I need help

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:56 pm

That's wonderful news!
Diagnosed 10/28/14, age 36
Colon Resection 11/20/14, LAR (no illeo)
Stage 2a colon cancer, T3NOMO
Lymph-vascular invasion undetermined
0/22 lymph nodes
No chemo, no radiation
Clear Colonoscopy 04/29/15
NED 10/20/15
Ischemic Colitis 01/21/16
NED 11/10/16
CT Scan moved up due to high CEA 08/21/17
NED 09/25/17
NED 12/21/18
Clear colonoscopy 09/23/19
Clear 5 year scans 11/21/19- Considered cured! :)

Nash123
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Re: I need help

Postby Nash123 » Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:23 pm

Yes, thank you for the support I was very worried :D

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Green Tea
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Re: I need help

Postby Green Tea » Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:27 pm

Nash123 wrote:Just want to say the colonoscopy was done and everything is fine. They just found two poly , that's it.

Hi Nash123,

That's very good news! I'm happy for you. They didn't find any cancer, so now you can relax a little.

But I want to add a comment or two...

  1. First, I, myself, would not be inclined to say that "everything is fine" This is because they did in fact find two polyps and this puts you in a different risk category, namely, "a person with a history of polyps."

    What this means is that from now on you will need to have follow-up colonoscopies at a more frequent interval than normal. Usually, when a patient has had a colonoscopy with no polyps or tumors found, the next follow-up colonoscopy will be scheduled for 10 years in the future. However, if they do find any polyps, then the situation is very different.

    According to the American Cancer Society:
    People who have had certain types of polyps removed during a colonoscopy:
    Most of these people will need to get a colonoscopy again after 3 years, but some people might need to get one earlier (or later) than 3 years, depending on the type, size, and number of polyps.
    Reference: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/acs-recommendations.html

    What this means for you is at least the following:

    1. You need to talk to the doctor to find out what type of polyps they found, how aggressive they were, how large they were, and whether or not they were pre-cancerous.
    2. You need to find out when your recommended follow-up colonoscopy should take place.
    3. You need to put this date on your calendar and set up some kind of reminder system so that you don't forget it.
    I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, or to "rain on your parade". I'm just trying to express the reality of the situation. You are only 29 years old but you already have 2 polyps, so you are now in a higher risk category and you cannot afford to ignore the requirement to have more frequent screenings.
    .
  2. Second, you don't yet have a proper diagnosis. You have said that "...everything is fine ...", but this would mean that they didn't find any internal hemorrhoids, any tears or fissures, any ulcers or ulcerative colitis, or anything else that might explain the rectal bleeding symptoms that you have experienced over the past 6 months or so. Thus, the outcome of the colonoscopy didn't provide any kind of diagnosis directly applicable to your troublesome bowel symptoms.

    So, what are you going to do if your symptoms continue to persist? How are you going to explain them, or how are you going to treat them if you don't have a proper diagnosis?

    One thing you should probably do now, though, is to fill out the Lynch Syndrome Risk Questionnaire to get an idea whether you might be at risk for Lynch Syndrome and might have to undergo genetic testing. This issue was brought up earlier by another member:
      I_will_fight wrote: ...Is there any history of colon or rectal cancer in your family? Though not impossible, 29 yo is very young for CRC unless there is a genetic component in the family (such as Lynch) ...
    I'm not saying that I think you have Lynch Syndrome. Rather, what I am saying is that when a patient as young as 29 years is found to already have polyps, then it is a natural follow-up for the doctor to ask the patient about any family history of colon cancer or polyps. This is done in order to rule out this possibility at an early stage.


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