Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

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Reala
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Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:43 pm

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Reala » Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:40 am

I have been taking laxatives and using hemorroid cream for a few days now and stools seem to be a lot larger now, however my stomach still makes a lot of rubling noises and I have a light pain on the right side when I bend down, etc. If I take 4 spoons of gaviscon it stops the noises and pain... not sure if that has any relavence.

I will see the doctor again probably this week and play up my stomach aches a bit, maybe lie and say bleeding came back or something to get one of these done... So many horror stories... be so nice if I had a result come back saying I am fine... could end 5 years of worry in seconds I guess... also as someone else said, start healing. I got a blood test in 10 days for aneamia, hopefully that will be clear or I'm gonna be terrified!!!

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barbara jayne
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Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby barbara jayne » Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:03 am

I do sympathise with you it can be extremely dificult to get docs to take you serriously in the uk, I asked for a cololoscopy when I was 46 yrs because my dad had just died of colon cancer I was told that I was too young to get it, how I wish that I'd known then what I know now, addmitedly I had no symptoms whatsoever at that time but eventually got so weak I needed 4 pint of blood as my blood count was 4.3 my cancer was low down in the ascending colon and I know now that the only sympton of that is anaemia, If only I had realised I would have paid privately for a colonoscopy years ago. You are very young and there could be lots of other reasons for your symptoms but if you can't get anywhere with your G.P please look into going private I don't think it's very expensive for a colonoscopy and if it should need following up you will just go back into the NHS system. good luck please let us know how you get on. I would like to thank all you colon clubbers out there I have found no forums in uk that are anywhere near as good as this one all your storries have helped me enormously :D
DX. Colon Cancer (Cecum) stage 3
Right hemicolectomy Jan '08
2/22 L.nodes positive
Oxi and Xeloda
Xeloda discontinued
due to DPD enzyme deficiency
Lynch Syndrome
13 years NED
Facebook user name,
Barbara Allen https://www.facebook.com/barbara.allen.927

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MitchellVII
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Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby MitchellVII » Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:23 am

barbara,

You have the symptoms of HNPCC. Have you had genetic testing done?
Stage IIA CRC Dx 03/08
Full right colectomy with 32 Lymph Nodes removed
Tumor 6 cm long by 2 cm thick in right ascending colon, 1/2 villous adenoma
MSI-High (MLH-1 indicated)
Factor V Leiden (Blood Clotting)
NED (as far as I know)

Cindy
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Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:00 pm

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Cindy » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:30 am

My son died of colon cancer at the age of 21- no family history of cancer. In fact, all his grandparents and great-grandparents lived well into their 80's and 90's. He died 3 months after finally being diagnosed correctly. Prior to his diagnosis, he had seen three different doctors during the previous 6 months. Get it checked out. Not just for peace of mind, but it could save your life.

Magnolia
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Location: Virginia

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Magnolia » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:38 am

I'm 100% behind healthcare reform in the US, but I cringe when people hold up the UK and Canada as the perfect system. They have problems too. We need something in between the two. I used to work as a clinician in a free clinic where homeless people got their only care at the whim of wealthy donors. That funding dried up and the patients lost their care. I also lost my job when I was a new single mother. Had the clinic still been there I would have qualified to be seen there as a patient. That's when my GI symptoms started. I still believe it was stress related flare-up of my life-long IBS, but what if it HAD been my CRC? I was diagnosed years later when I was married and my husband had good coverage, but what if something bigger had happened then? As it was, my symptoms came and went for several years, and had actually improved a lot prior to my CRC diagnosis. (Less stress)I don't think I was symptomatic with my CRC, but who knows? Too late now to wonder. I didn't get a scope here, and surely wouldn't have had one in the UK. I was under 50 at the time and had no 1st degree relative with CRC. ( I had several 2nd degree relatives, but didn't know it at the time) I was diagnosed with my first "over 50" screening. I had stage III disease.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

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MitchellVII
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Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby MitchellVII » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:11 am

The reform we need is not universal healthcare. The reform we need is some control over the prices that are charged for services. When I spend 3 hours in ER and get a bill for $16,000, something is seriously wrong. When a doctor charges me $700 for 5 minutes of his time, something is wrong.

But I digress. I wonder how many people die needlessly of CRC every year simply because their idiot doctors refused to even consider CRC in their diagnosis because the person was under 50? I have sat right in front of actual Oncologists and discussed some of the latest developments i have read about online and they have blank stares on their faces. It is clear that I as the patient know more than they do - scary.

You want to trust your GP for a CRC diagnosis? Try asking him if he even knows what HNPCC or micro-satellite instability is. Blank stare, i promise you. It is your life, stop being so polite and fight.
Stage IIA CRC Dx 03/08
Full right colectomy with 32 Lymph Nodes removed
Tumor 6 cm long by 2 cm thick in right ascending colon, 1/2 villous adenoma
MSI-High (MLH-1 indicated)
Factor V Leiden (Blood Clotting)
NED (as far as I know)

Reala
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:43 pm

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Reala » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:16 am

Wow... I'm so sorry to hear that Cindy, I will try my best to do what I can. I am very scared and I have tried to relay this to the doctor but they didn't seem that sympathetic... Just said Colon Cancer at 18 (when my symptoms began) is far less than 1 in over 100,000 and a near impossibility at my age... I would make myself worse if I keep worrying, etc.

I think I will print some of these pages and take it to the doctor, but they did say to stop looking at the Internet and freaking myself out... but I can't really. I havn't experienced rectal bleeding for over 3 months as I said previously (I think it may have actually been twice in a year or something - both times bright red) but I know that for some people it comes and goes.

I probably am too polite, but at the same time I find it hard to say to a doctor they are wrong and I am right... they obviously have a much higher level of understanding than me. I am considering saying that rectal bleeding has come back and is darker... think that will work? Surely if I say it is dark blood they will have to do some kind of internal check...

I am 99.99% sure that if I say 'I want a check for colon cancer' I will be shot down and given laxatives again!!! Private I checked and it is about £1000-£1500... for a student with no decent job that is A LOT of money... far more than I can afford :(

Magnolia
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Location: Virginia

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Magnolia » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:23 am

We need some way to cover those people I was caring for in the free clinic. They need healthcare too. I met a homeless man the other day, in his fifties, who was having rectal bleeding. He's too young for Medicare. He's toast if it's not hemorrhoids. He can't even afford a room for the night and a meal. I met him on my way to to Capitol Hill to lobby for reform. Ironic.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Reala
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:43 pm

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Reala » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:29 am

Just called BUPA (Private UK Health Care Group) and they said they charge around £1,000 - £1,500 plus £75.00 consultation fee... If I could afford that I would get it done, but sadly my bank balance is about 10% of that and being a student no one (bank) is going to give/loan me that kind of money =/

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MitchellVII
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Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:56 pm

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby MitchellVII » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:40 am

Magnolia,

That's the great question of the modern age. Any time prior to the last 100 years, this homeless man would just be allowed to die. It is the law of the jungle, the law of evolution - the strong survive and the weak perish. It is actually for the good of the species. But, from a moral standpoint, how can we deny life-saving care to another human being simply because they do not have the financial means to pay for it? This is why great societies usually end up crumbling under the weight of their own morality. The bottom line - there simply is not enough money to always do the right thing. Sounds harsh, but realities often are.

It is a great concondrum because our moral standards put us on the path to financial destruction. A famous person once said that "capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth and socialism is the equal distribution of poverty". So, do we design the healthcare system so that most get excellent care and some do not, or so that all get barely adequate care, but it is equally distributed? Margaret Thatcher famously said, "the problem with socialism that you eventually run out of people to pay for it".

There are no easy answers on this one. It is clearly a damned if we do and damned if we don't proposition. I feel for this homeless man as he is another human being, but can society really afford to prop those up that do not contribute to it? Tough tough dilemna.
Stage IIA CRC Dx 03/08
Full right colectomy with 32 Lymph Nodes removed
Tumor 6 cm long by 2 cm thick in right ascending colon, 1/2 villous adenoma
MSI-High (MLH-1 indicated)
Factor V Leiden (Blood Clotting)
NED (as far as I know)

Reala
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:43 pm

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Reala » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:46 am

The issue in the UK is that because Health Care is free it takes about 2 days to get an appointment as 90% of the people doctors see have a cough, cold or minor headache... however because they can go to the doctors and say 'this is wrong with me' get a prescription and get drugs for free they just do it. I remember as a kid, when I was sick, I went to the doctor to get a note for school... whether it was a blocked nose, sore throat or anything that had kept me off school... It's just common practice here.

Magnolia
Posts: 1514
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Magnolia » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:47 am

There's LOTS of room to control waste an make room for better care at the bottom. We can improve access. We may not be able to give everybody everything, but we can do better. We HAVE to do better. We aren't animals. We don't shove the weak out to die. Good basic healthcare for the poor is not socialism. It's compassion. It's human.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Magnolia
Posts: 1514
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Magnolia » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:05 am

>>When I spend 3 hours in ER and get a bill for $16,000, something is seriously wrong. When a doctor charges me $700 for 5 minutes of his time, something is wrong.<<

What's wrong is that hospitals are trying to recoup losses for ER visits and such by the uninsured indigent. More and more patients, even those with jobs, fall into this catagory. The costs get passed on to those who CAN pay. My cousin, a relatively young woman, had insurance that only paid for acute care for her stroke. She was considered too young for any kind of long term rehab. Go figure. She spent every penny she had, and still owed when she died a year later. She was single, with no kids. Her next of kin was her 89 year old mother who was not considered legally responsible for her bills. My cousin had been supporting HER. A lot of her bills went unpaid. Her life insurance covered a little of it, but didn't go far. Not all people who owe are "non-contributers".

As for the homeless. So many of us are a paycheck away from there. I lost my free clinic job when I was single. I wasn't far from there. If I had had ONE THING go wrong, I'd have been on the streets myself. I'm a healthcare provider myself. Not a "non-contributer". No human being should have to plead for his or her life based on economic viability. We can do this. There is enough if we learn to share. Remember that loaves and fishes thing? I'm not just talking about healthcare. I'm talking about resources in general. If we learn to conserve in other areas, healthcare dollars may be easier to find. And yes, I WOULD rather see all of us get SOME care rather than see the elite get all the best care. I don't thing we have to do it that way, but if it comes to that, I would rather see that homeless guy have a chance than see only the top bananas get the best. We are NOT animals.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Magnolia
Posts: 1514
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Magnolia » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:08 am

It doesn't have to be single payer. I don't like that idea either. We need a watchdog to control greed. As it is now, the moneymakers are their own watchdogs. When that happens, there is a conflict of interest.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Magnolia
Posts: 1514
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: Please help - Scared 22 year old :(

Postby Magnolia » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:10 am

Anyone who is having trouble getting their docs to listen to them, get a copy of the Colondar and show it to them.
Dx Stage IIIC CC 3/10/06
Surgery 3/20/06
Folfox 4/06 - 10/06
Avastin 4/06 - 4/07
NED!


http://www.CoverYourButt.org
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.


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