Colon Cancer

[mel161616]

Hi, this is my first time on here so sorry if I'm not doing this right...but I don' have anywhere else to go.

I am a 17 year old female, 5'2 and 100lbs. Two months ago, I felt very bloated and my stomach hurt a lot, so I went to the ER and the said I was consipated and gave me some stool softener pills I think, and it went away. About 6 days ago, I had the same pain in my stomach, bloating in the lower abdomen and had sharp pain on different spots in my stomach (mainly right or left lower abdomen). I ate some cereal with a lot of fiber in it and yogurt, and went to the toilet shortly after. But these symptoms came back (I don't quite remember when), plus I had a spot on my upper right abdomen where it hurt really badly and felt like a bruise when I touched it and there is kind of a bumb on there, it's not that big but you can see the difference with the other side.

I also started having some light back pain, my legs and arms felt weak sometimes and I had some blood in my stool so I went to the ER on friday because I couldn't take it anymore, I had trouble sleeping because of that spot.

The doctor basicaly only touched my stomach and asked where I had pain and took an urine test, which came back okay. She told me to take Lax-a-Day twice a day for 3 days, to clean my bowel and after that, once a day for up to 3 months if it doesn't get better. I took the laxatives as soon as I got home around 9p.m. and went to the toilet. My stool looked normal, except for the green colour, which didn't worry me. I took the laxatives like she told me to, ate some fruits but I couldn't go to the toilet and was feeling very bloated. My lower back started hurting more and when I touched, I noticed that it was actaully my spine that hurt to the touch. When I went to the toilet, my stoool was ressembling rabbit poop, or very narrow (all in the same bowel movement).

Today, it's been 3 days since I went to the ER, and the spot in my upper right abdomen still hurts, my spine still hurts, and I still feel bloated. I went to the toilet several times this morning and it was a little bit of diarrhea each times.

I want to go to the ER again, but no one takes me seriously so they don't want to take me again and I'm very very scared I have cancer. I've looked up the symptoms and it seems like I have quite a lot of them and I can't stop crying and worrying about it... I really want to take some tests but how do I get some? Does anyone have similar experiences or some advice ?
Thank you very much in advance

[Nik Colon]

Go to a Gastroenterologist not the ER

[macpudd]

Hi Mel,
I am so sorry that you feel no one is taking you seriously, have you talked to your parents or a family member you trust or maybe a teacher who will help you with this problem and advocate for you. Have you consulted your familly doctor, he or she should be able to refer you to the apropriate medical person to help you with this situation. I know its easy to say but please try not to worry, as anxiety will only make you feel worse. Hope you feel better soon.
Regards
Macpudd

[dianetavegia]

Too MUCH fiber can cause constipation...... however, you could have an obstruction and that's what you're feeling or even have a hernia or pulled muscle in that area. The spinal pain doesn't have anything to do with colon cancer unless someone has VERY ADVANCED cancer that has spread to the bone and you'd be super sick and KNOW it.

Unless someone else in your family had colon/ rectal cancer at a young age, your chance of colon/ rectal cancer is super, super, super low. That being said, after my colon surgery, I got very constipated and went to the ER thinking obstruction. They did an abdominal xray.

Don't worry about the thin poop. That 'pencil' theory was ruled out 100 years ago. LONG story but it was invented by an ENT who would remove women's whole colons if they answered yes to constipation when they came in to his office. He got a paper written and endorsed and it was later proven that for thin pencil type stools to be indicative of cancer, the stool would have to be a certain consistency, the tumor in a very specific spot and it would be every day, etc.

Oh.......... another hint. Check Youtube for Squatty Potty. It explains the muscle that can cause constipation. I use a little stool I got at Walmart but have previously turned over a box or little trash can.

[PainInTheAss]

My son and my daughter had this very same thing happen to them and it was backed up stool. It took my son about six months of stool softener, fiber, yogurt, and prune juice to get his system back to normal. He was 17.

My 20 yo daughter is going through this now. Lots of bloating, cramping, abdominal, pain, stomach aches, etc. She was referred to a colorectal surgeon who didn't find anything during her scope. It's been about 4 months for her. She is on heavy duty probiotics right now.

I would be most concerned about blood in your stool. Rectal cancer and hemorrhoids can leave bright red blood in stools. Colon cancer further up the colon may leave dark red blood or no visible blood at all. Your other symptoms aren't consistent with rectal cancer, at least in my experience, so bright red blood shouldn't be there with a tumor far up the colon. Sometimes, red colored foods can just look like blood. You really want to save the stool and have it tested if you ever see that and you didn't eat anything like tomatoes the previous few days. Blood in stool should never be taken lightly, regardless of your age.

Your spine pain wouldn't have anything to do with colon cancer, from what I can see.

I would ask for a referral from your primary care doctor to a colorectal surgeon. They have lots of experience with colon cancer and can help you rule that out once and for all so you can stop worrying about it. Lots of stress can cause digestive problems like you are describing. That's probably all it is.

[jackn]

Hi Mel,
Please let us know the outcome and I agree you definitely want to go to a GI and having cancer at such a young age is very rare so please dont worry about it.