The Colon Club

I'm a 30 year old female. I first started to feel symptoms last year, which I stupidly chalked up to IBS. There was no blood in my stool at the time, so I wasn't worried. Just a feeling of pressure in my butt, and a feeling of incomplete evacuation occasionally. Like still feeling a need to push, even after having a BM.
Fast forward a few months and I fell pregnant with my third baby. I noticed a bit of blood in my underwear, definitely from the backside. Since then, I began to scrutinize my stools. There was never any noticeable blood until I gave birth to my third baby, and a few weeks later had mucus and blood on the stool. 6 weeks postpartum, and again, blood is on the stool and also looks to be inside the stool but yet there is nothing on the toilet paper?! I have read this is an onimous sign and I am fearing the worst. I also have a never ending pressure in my butt, even when I pee, I can feel pressure in my backside..
I have a GI appointment but it isn't until the end of January. I obsess over this all day. All I can think about is leaving my children motherless. Please, how do you cope? How do I live life normally while waiting for answers? thank you for reading and please take care.

Well, the end of Jan is way to long to wait. Get that appt asap so you will know one way or the other what is going on.
Be your own advocate!

Just to provide some perspective that may be reassuring, there are a number of conditions that can cause the symptoms you report, hemorrhoids being the most likely I believe. While rectal cancer rates in younger people have increased in recent years, rectal cancer in someone under 30 is still quite rare. And keep in mind that a tumor would likely have to be bulky to cause tenesmus, and you have had these symptoms for at least a year. That means you would have had to have significant disease in your mid-twenties. Finally, even if you are the exception to the rule, colorectal cancer is by no means a death sentence. In most cases it is very treatable and curable. So even if you have a problem, it is best not to jump to worst case scenarios at this point. Your GI doctor will be able to address all these issues. I understand that symptoms like this can be nerve wracking — trust me — but in your case you still have the heavy weight of probability on your side. It’s definitely worth checking out, but I would try to avoid catastrophic thinking at this point.

I would agree with roadrunner. Try not to panic until you have definitive results. Sometimes, our minds play tricks on us and we tend to think the worst.

Good luck to you. Try to remain positive. Stay off of Google...it won't help.

I'm sorry you're going through this.*hugs* Maybe you could be put on a cancellation list so you could be seen sooner. I hope you get answers. I know what it's like to have long waits for appointments. I would definitely stay away from Google.

If you cannot change your appointment to an earlier date, maybe you can have some blood tests to measure your CEA, CA 125 and CA 19-9 tumor markers. Probably any hospital can do those tests in a few days and the results can give some hint for the problem. I know CEA levels do not always rise up but it will still give some hint.

I agree with roadrunner & utalgal7 especially at your age. Very rare at your age, unless colon cancer runs in your family. Is there a family member you could ask about prior relatives with a cancer history?

Around here, Arizona, 3 months just to see the GI doc especially for that 1st visit is not uncommon. Unless you get some type of doctor to doctor referral.

IF, and that is a big IF, you do have this cancer, it is probably a very slow growing cancer at this stage. They figured I had my cancer for about 10 yrs before it was diagnosed. That was 16+ years ago & I am very much alive & kicking today. What this means, you should have been growing polyps in your body in your early 20's or late teens. VERY RARE unless colon cancer runs in your family.

Agree, avoid Dr. Goggle!! You can diagnose yourself with anything with Dr. Google. A lot of information out there is out of date or just plain wrong. Unless you know where to look. Come here for questions & support. There is a wealth of information on this forum.

If you need inspiration/support, read this thread, it's a bit long, butt you will find many long term survivors who have moved on, butt come back on occasions to post on this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10574&hilit=stage+III+how+long

I know you are scared, it is best to get it checked out butt believe/know in heart you are going to be okay.

We are here if you need us, even if just to vent.

Lee

A minimal amount of googling shows that there are many conditions that can cause such symptoms, the least likely of which is probably cancer.

A more likely candidate is IBS. Why did you dismiss it as stupid? Have you discussed IBS with a doctor?

I assume you have been seeing your ob/gyn: what does s/he say about it?

mamaof31991 wrote:... I have a GI appointment but it isn't until the end of January...

What kind of GI appointment is this going to be? What is the doctor likely to do? Is he just going to fill out your Medical History form and listen to your list of symptoms and then tell you that you probably have IBS?

Or is he actually going to do an exam?

He could probably do a sigmoidoscopy right there in his office because that procedure doesn't involve sedation and doesn't require a certified anesthesiologist to be present. But if he is going to do either a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy then he has to give you instructions for doing a colon-cleansing prep the day before. Has he done that?

To resolve your various issues I think you need to have a proper colonoscopy done.

Thank you all for your words and advice. I've gone back to this post many times for reassurance and to calm my fears a bit. I had mt first GI appt. and he didn't do so much as examine me and barely glanced at my photos. He said the only way to know for sure would be a colonscopy but at the moment all the beds were full due to covid. So for now I did blood work, stool sample and will be doing an U/S and an xray.

However meanwhile I am still struggling with extreme anxiety over this. This morning was especially bad. My poop was a really obvious reddish brown. Im not sure if it is because of the magenta iced cupcake I had last night although I only had 1. Would anyone be so kind as to tell me how blood would present itself? Would it turn the toilet bowl red because in my case it was just the poop itself. Would the blood be able to be removed from the poop? in my case my poop is actually red. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

There is a book that has a section on poo color (see below, pages 71-73)
https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=56460&p=446730#p446730

mamaof31991 wrote:Thank you all for your words and advice. I've gone back to this post many times for reassurance and to calm my fears a bit. I had mt first GI appt. and he didn't do so much as examine me and barely glanced at my photos. He said the only way to know for sure would be a colonscopy but at the moment all the beds were full due to covid. So for now I did blood work, stool sample and will be doing an U/S and an xray.

However meanwhile I am still struggling with extreme anxiety over this. This morning was especially bad. My poop was a really obvious reddish brown. Im not sure if it is because of the magenta iced cupcake I had last night although I only had 1. Would anyone be so kind as to tell me how blood would present itself? Would it turn the toilet bowl red because in my case it was just the poop itself. Would the blood be able to be removed from the poop? in my case my poop is actually red. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi @mamaof311991 - Have you heard back or learned anything new here? I'm sharing similar worries and my bloodwork was just sent out on Friday. Thank you.

I’m not sure how accurate these test are, but if your worried about blood I’m your stool, you could always pick up a test kit from your local drug store, CVS, Walgreens, etc. It’s usually something that you put in the toilet after a bowel movement and will chance color if there is blood present.

When I had blood present it was on the toilet tissue when I wiped. I saw some along the sides of my poop. But I had rectal cancer so it’s really close to the exit. I guess if it’s in your colon your stool would be black.

Have you had any update on your diagnosis?
I get it. The anxiety alone can be very difficult. I have been there. Do not get discouraged. There are so many advancements in cancer treatment these days if it is even cancer.

That said; In my personal experience, the blood was in the stool itself. It was not dripping like hemorrhoids would be nor was it on the toilet paper.

NoVA21 wrote:Have you had any update on your diagnosis?
I get it. The anxiety alone can be very difficult. I have been there. Do not get discouraged. There are so many advancements in cancer treatment these days if it is even cancer.

That said; In my personal experience, the blood was in the stool itself. It was not dripping like hemorrhoids would be nor was it on the toilet paper.

I have a colonoscopy scheduled for the end of the month finally. I'm absolutely terrified. About everything. The prep. the procedure. being put to sleep. And of course the news they will tell me at the end.
was the blood you were finding in your poop dark red or light red?