The Colon Club

Good Morning everyone,

I'm sure you get worried posts from people all the time so I will try to keep this brief.

I am 25, I turn 26 tomorrow. But I have been having worries about my bathroom habits.

For as long as I can remember I have had problems with constipation and I am no stranger to bloody stools. They would happen infrequently as a child.

As I got older I also had the terrible habit of not doing number 2 in public so I constantly hold my stools, disgusting I know. It was so bad that when I was in college I would hold it the entire week and only go when I would go home for the weekend. Because of this I paid no concern to strange things going on in my bowel movements, i.e blood, narrow stools.

A couple of years ago I realized this was wrecking havoc on my stomach and causing me to having chronic constipation. So I started going regularly despite my location. I started feeling better and I noticed my stools where easier to pass.

Well recently, as in the past couple of months I noticed when I wipe there is blood on the tissue, I also notice my poo has a reddish tint to it. I went to my GP who said because of my age it was probably hemorrhoids but to be sure she sent me to a specialist. When I went to the specialist and describe my symptom (mainly bleeding) he scheduled me for a colonoscopy. Okay, so everything is good? No.

Immediately I started to talk myself out of it. I was worried about being put to sleep (I never had any kind of surgical procedure before) and I was worried about it they found cancer (I honestly don't know how I'd live with myself). So with all this in mind plus me telling myself that it was only hemorrhoids and I'm only 25 so my chances are slim I cancelled my procedure on the day before.

Well yesterday after a bowel movement I discovered my poo had the reddish tint. I WebMd'd my symptoms and the top result was colon cancer. I started reading up on CC and discovered that it is pretty treatable if it is found early so I broke down and scheduled an appointment with the specialist. It will probably be another month before I can get the colonoscopy but I'm determined to go through with it even though I'm frightened. I know it's important but I just really am scared of the procedure and the possibility of cancer. I have tears in my eyes now as I write this. I just really needed to vent. Being young none of my friends really understands how this feels and my parents aren't helpful either,

Any encouraging words will be appreciated. Thank you

Get it done and it will resolve all of your questions and concerns. The best way to move forward is to know what is going inside your colon. You will be able to survive the screening, it is a minor inconvenience. "Get er' done" and good luck.
WS

WarriorSpouse wrote:Get it done and it will resolve all of your questions and concerns. The best way to move forward is to know what is going inside your colon. You will be able to survive the screening, it is a minor inconvenience. "Get er' done" and good luck.
WS

Thank you, you're right. Knowing something is better than not knowing.

Congratulations on scheduling your appointment! *hugs* The prep is the worst part. They give you medication before the colonoscopy where you're not aware what's going on and you don't feel pain. They pump you full of air during the colonoscopy so you will be gassy afterward and may have cramping. I have cramping for a day or so afterward. I also get diarrhea which resolves itself. Good luck, you can do this!

Glad you are getting that colonoscopy. That will give you a true diagnoses, anything else is just a speculation. Try to avoid Dr. Google, sometime the information is out of date or just plan wrong.

Your symptoms can be caused by many things, cancer is just one possibility. For what it is worth, many years ago, my mother ended up in the hospital, rectal bleeding and serious stomach pain. A colonoscopy was done, no cancer, not even a polyp, just a bad case of diverticulosis. Me I had no symptoms, no pain, just bleeding hemorrhoids. Every test that should have been a red flag for colon cancer came back negative or normal. My PCP figured my hemorrhoids were my excuse for getting my baseline colonoscopy early in life. My signature line tells the story.

Good friend of mine, her daughter was scoped at 25 for issues she was having. Can't remember the diagnoses, butt it was not cancer. Again that scope gave her a true diagnoses, not a speculation.

So between now and your scope, try not to worry. If you have questions, or just want to vent, bring it here. We really do get what you are going through.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Lee

DarknessEmbraced wrote:Congratulations on scheduling your appointment! *hugs* The prep is the worst part. They give you medication before the colonoscopy where you're not aware what's going on and you don't feel pain. They pump you full of air during the colonoscopy so you will be gassy afterward and may have cramping. I have cramping for a day or so afterward. I also get diarrhea which resolves itself. Good luck, you can do this!

Thank you! I took my mom to her colonoscopy and I remember the gassy part. lol. Not looking forward to it.

Lee wrote:Glad you are getting that colonoscopy. That will give you a true diagnoses, anything else is just a speculation. Try to avoid Dr. Google, sometime the information is out of date or just plan wrong.

Your symptoms can be caused by many things, cancer is just one possibility. For what it is worth, many years ago, my mother ended up in the hospital, rectal bleeding and serious stomach pain. A colonoscopy was done, no cancer, not even a polyp, just a bad case of diverticulosis. Me I had no symptoms, no pain, just bleeding hemorrhoids. Every test that should have been a red flag for colon cancer came back negative or normal. My PCP figured my hemorrhoids were my excuse for getting my baseline colonoscopy early in life. My signature line tells the story.

Good friend of mine, her daughter was scoped at 25 for issues she was having. Can't remember the diagnoses, butt it was not cancer. Again that scope gave her a true diagnoses, not a speculation.

So between now and your scope, try not to worry. If you have questions, or just want to vent, bring it here. We really do get what you are going through.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Lee

Thank you so much! Dr. Google is a double edged sword. When I was first recommended my colonoscopy I shrugged it off as hemorrhoids and cancelled. But as the bleeding persisted I decided to Google possible conditions and the colon cancer one is what frightened me into rescheduling it. The problem is I keep Googling and keep finding cases of people in my age range who have colon cancer and that's what's scaring me. Smh.

I'm also pretty frustrated with myself. If I went ahead and got the scope done when I was suppose to I would already know what's going on and if applicable could catch whatever this is early. Now it'd probably be another 2/3 weeks before I can get it done.

Try to stay busy and divert your mind. Stay away from google for sure. Treat worry, fear and anxiety like the enemy....stay far away. When anxious thoughts arise, I say STOP IT! And immediately turn my thoughts to gratitude for anything that is good in my life. I try to remember that any type of negativity is only going to worsen my health so I try to stay in the mindset of gratitude.

SleeplessinFlorida wrote: . . . The problem is I keep Googling and keep finding cases of people in my age range who have colon cancer and that's what's scaring me. Smh.

Generally it is rare for people your age to get colon cancer. Yes it can happen butt it tends to be very rare. Generally when it does happen, it's because there is a history of this type of cancer in the family. This was over 20 years ago, I knew of a women who was diagnosed in her mid 20's. Come to find out, she had a grandfather and an uncle die from colon cancer. No one told the family it was hereditary, guess the family never really talked about it either. Because of her, her kids were getting colonoscopies starting at age 10. When she was diagnosed, she was a stage IV. She is very much alive today.

So unless it runs in your family, try not to worry. Butt do get that scope, any time there is bleeding, a colonoscopy should be done.

Lee

Glad you're getting the colonoscopy. We're all rooting for an all clear for you. Once it is "all clear", you may want to look into a plant based diet. It could help with the poop-issue.

Good thoughts!!

Lotus wrote:Try to stay busy and divert your mind. Stay away from google for sure. Treat worry, fear and anxiety like the enemy....stay far away. When anxious thoughts arise, I say STOP IT! And immediately turn my thoughts to gratitude for anything that is good in my life. I try to remember that any type of negativity is only going to worsen my health so I try to stay in the mindset of gratitude.

Thank you! I've been keeping myself busy lately and I haven't Googled my symptoms in over a week so that's progress.

Lee wrote:

SleeplessinFlorida wrote: . . . The problem is I keep Googling and keep finding cases of people in my age range who have colon cancer and that's what's scaring me. Smh.

Generally it is rare for people your age to get colon cancer. Yes it can happen butt it tends to be very rare. Generally when it does happen, it's because there is a history of this type of cancer in the family. This was over 20 years ago, I knew of a women who was diagnosed in her mid 20's. Come to find out, she had a grandfather and an uncle die from colon cancer. No one told the family it was hereditary, guess the family never really talked about it either. Because of her, her kids were getting colonoscopies starting at age 10. When she was diagnosed, she was a stage IV. She is very much alive today.

So unless it runs in your family, try not to worry. Butt do get that scope, any time there is bleeding, a colonoscopy should be done.

Lee

Thank you. As far as I know no one in my family has had colon cancer, so that's a good sign.

TerryC wrote:Glad you're getting the colonoscopy. We're all rooting for an all clear for you. Once it is "all clear", you may want to look into a plant based diet. It could help with the poop-issue.

Good thoughts!!

Thank you! I've already cut out red meat. I don't know if I can go completely meat free but I would like to get to that point one day.

So just a tiny update.

I went to my GP last week and told her about the problems I was having and that I was worried it might be cancer. She told me not to worry, that usually when colonoscopies are done at my age they are looking for colitis and/or fissures. She also said that I was too young to get cancer and that I would have the world record for youngest age for CC. I rolled my eyes at that. I HATE when doctors act like it's impossible to get cancer at my age, it's not reassuring. Especially since I know a girl who had breast cancer and she was younger than me.

Anyway, I went to my gastroenterologist Tuesday. Apparently he doesn't do colonoscopies unless he's seen you within a month and I had to go back again. He was pretty reassuring and told me the procedure is going to be quick and they'll be looking for inflammation, polyps, hemorrhoids and deciding what needs to happen with them. So my appointment is set for August 17th. I'm ready to get it over with!

I'm glad you have an appointment!*hugs* I hope your prep and colonoscopy go well!*hugs*