I still dont know...

[George1078]

Ok, i am a 15 year old male whom has numerous, about 4 or 5, diarrhea bowel movements. its been like this for a good while. I notice occassional blood in my stool but i think thats because i may have external hemorrhoids because when i have a bowel movement, it burns really bad. I excercise mildly and my eating habits are of a normal teenager. im about average weight . And i have fairly mild stomac pains on the right side mostly but sometimes it moves to the left side and sometimes its a little more intense pain but that barely happens. I want to know do i probably have colon cancer? i dont want to hear "cancer can happen at any age" because ive kind of read up on this and colon cancer usually stays in the 50 and above range. I'm going to the doctor this week. I just need to know because i know since im 15, the doctor wont do anything really. Has a 15 year old ever had colon cancer??

[weisssoccermom]

George,
Let's start at the beginning. While I suppose it is possible for a 15 year old to get cancer, it is VERY VERY unlikely. That doesn't mean, however, that you couldn't have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis to name just two other VERY real and more likely possibilities. You could also have irritable bowel syndrome. You say you believe you have external hemorhoids because it burns, but it's just as likely that you have an anal fissure. That is basically a small tear in the sensitive tissue that surrounds the anus. Those can bleed but burn & hurt like heck after a bowel movement. Anal fissures are common, particularly after bouts of diarrhea and although annoying are basically benign.

It's good that you are seeing the doctor and hopefully he will take your symptoms seriously. Make sure you tell him about the pain and the blood in the stool. I seriously doubt that you have colon cancer but Crohn's disease is NOT uncommon in a person your age so if you have a good doctor, he should be aware of all the possibilities and will hopefully order more tests - unless of course, based on an exam he can see something quite obvious.

Relax - while your symptoms are very real I doubt they are colorectal cancer. If they are due to IBS, Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, you may have to take some medication and potentially change some of your eating habits, but these changes should be easy to implement. Please let us know how your appt goes.

Jaynee

[George1078]

Thank you for the immediate response, and i surely will tell you about the visit, ive been telling my mom and she kind of insists that its lactose intollerance because i eat ALOT of dairy. Still, were going to the doctor to check

[elissa]

Hi George,
As the mom of two teenage boys with gastrointestinal problems, I wanted to offer you some support and some thoughts about what could be going on with you. Your mom could be right. Lactose intollerance is a possibility. If you get cramping and diarrhea after having dairy, that could be your problem. Make sure that your doctor orders the actual Lactose Intollerance Test. You will drink a liquid with a lot of lactose in it. Then every half hour for a few hours, you will blow up a bag. The lab will test the hydrogen level in the bags and will be able to tell you right away if that is your problem. My older son is lactose intollerant. So, he drink Lactaid milk and takes lactaid pills when he wants to eat ice cream. My older son also has Celiac Disease, which could be another possibility for you. If your diarrhea is sort of weird looking.....foamy and floaty, you could have Celiac. The doctor would need to do blood work and then an endoscopy to confirm it. For this, you would have to change your whole diet as you could not eat anything with gluten which is in wheat, rye, barley and other grains and is hidden in many foods. My younger son had a lot of intermittent diarrhea. About two years ago he had a lot of tests....lactose test, celiac test, blood work and an endoscopy. They found nothing wrong. When my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer his year, I spoke to my son's doctor again. He just had a colonoscopy earlier this month and they found out that he has Irritable Bowel Syndrome. For this, he just has to watch his diet.
I wish you good luck George and I hope you get some answers soon.
Elissa

[shmurciakova]

HI,
I am glad you are taking your symptoms seriously. Like the others said it is not likely that you could at 15 have colon cancer, but I would not say it is impossible. I think my doctor had a 17 year old patient at one time. In any event, don't let yourself get too carried away because it could be many things. I would suggest however, to see if the doctor is willing to schedule you for a colonoscopy to see what is going on inside. I first had symptoms when I was in my early 20's but I ignored them because everyone told me it was probably just hemorrhoids.
I wish I had gone to see a gastroenterologist sooner than I did. I was finally diagnosed at 31, but I am sure if I would have been diagnosed when I was say, 26 instead I would not have been in the situation that I ended up in.
Good luck to you and let us know how it goes. Meanwhile, try not to let your mind go crazy.

[George1078]

okay, so today i went to the doctor. He seems pretty nice. He was discussing all of the possible things i could have after i told him my symptoms. What he came up with that are the 3 most possible things are Constipation(which he said i probably dont have), IBS, and IBD. So after he said all of these things, he said they like to run a lot of tests the first visit. So he did. He uhh, stuck his finger, you know.. and then told my mom that i have microscopic blood in my stool, and that he thinks the supposed "hemorrhoid" is a skin tag. So then he sent us down the hall to get blood work done. He also felt my stomac for pain. And he is schedualing and endoscopy (if thats how its spelled) both upper and lower next week. Im glad that hees really taking this seriously! Hopefully after the endoscopy i'll have a diagnosis soon

[karenM]

wow he is doing great with you. A doc who is taking it serious, wonderful. Good luck that it is something simple and treatable. God bless.

[Surroundedbylove]

okay, so today i went to the doctor. He seems pretty nice. He was discussing all of the possible things i could have after i told him my symptoms. What he came up with that are the 3 most possible things are Constipation(which he said i probably dont have), IBS, and IBD. So after he said all of these things, he said they like to run a lot of tests the first visit. So he did. He uhh, stuck his finger, you know.. and then told my mom that i have microscopic blood in my stool, and that he thinks the supposed "hemorrhoid" is a skin tag. So then he sent us down the hall to get blood work done. He also felt my stomac for pain. And he is schedualing and endoscopy (if thats how its spelled) both upper and lower next week. Im glad that hees really taking this seriously! Hopefully after the endoscopy i'll have a diagnosis soon

It is good they are taking you seriously - by "lower" endoscopy are they doing a colonoscopy? I hope so. It sounds like you will have an endoscopy of upper gastrointesinal tract (down through the small intestine?) and then a colonoscopy of the lower tract (up through the colon). Is that right?

[George1078]

Yes, i believe so but i dont know, he said upper and lower endoscopy. He showed us where he was going to be putting the camera through. And i think it is the colon, large intestine, etc. AND he is taking biopsies, i feel good to be getting all of these things done because i dont want to wait til its too late if its something serious

[George1078]

have to drink a laxitive and take an enema today, going in for an endoscopy tomorrow, wish me luck!! And i have a question, is a lower and upper endoscopy bettter than a colonoscopy? because thats what im getting

[Phuong]

I've always had the colonoscopy, so I don't have an answer to your questions, but I highly recommend that you search for the thread about prep days. There are some tricks that will help make prep easier (desitin, babywipes, etc). Good luck George!

[SkiFletch]

Unfortunately docs don't always use the same terms George. An "upper and lower endoscopy" means you'll be getting two different scopes, one of your stomach (upper) and one of the colon (lower). An "endoscope" is a blanket term for any flexible instrument with a light and camera at the end of it for imaging things. True, the doc should probably be more specific and say a gastric endoscope and a colonoscope, but they all have their quirks . They'll give you mild anaesthesia and you won't remember a damned thing, so don't worry about the procedure itself, it's really no big thing. Just tell your mom to have a good memory or take notes on what the Dr says after you wake up, those drugs really mess with your memory even when they're wearing off .

Best of luck for you tomorrow

[catwraa@msn.com]

George,
Glad they are giving you an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy so that you can clear this up. I am not a doctor, but a nurse so I cannot diagnose, but suggest!
Not to scare you but just so you know there is a colon cancer that is hereditary and young people can get it. It is called FAP (familial adenomatous polyposis). I had a friend who had this form of cancer at 18yrs, but let me tell you , her mother had the same cancer at 25years, and her grandfather as well had the same cancer at 30years!! Remarkably the are all living/and or haven't died from the disease. But if your mom or dad doesn't have colon cancer, nor your grandparents, it may be safe to say you don't have colon cancer! This type of cancer occurs in less than one percent of the population and is extremely hereditary!!
You like others have said may be lactose intolerant, irritable bowel or have hemorrhoids.....
Good luck to you!
Catherine

[cbownds]

I am so glad your doctor is taking you seriously. It took me 3 ER visits and a doctor trying to send me home on the last one and me insisting I was not making up the pain to find out what was wrong with me. Colon cancer at a young age is rare but at 19 I found out thats what I had. So hopefully it isn't anything too serious and I wish you the best of luck.

[BrownBagger]

Good luck, George. As Fletch said, you won't feel or remember a thing, and you'll be fine once the scope dope wears off. Actually, you'll be fine before it wears off, but you won't remember it! I found the people who choose this field tend to be pretty nice, compassionate and considerate folks. I'm sure you're in good hands.