# scared, because somebody I know who is my age has colon cancer



## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

I am freaked out right now because I just found out that somebody my age (39) has colon cancer. There is this nice store clerk and we talk always when I buy stuff. I haven't been to the store in a while and when I went last months I was shocked how much weight he lost. He said the doctors can't find anything because all the blood tests are normal. I told him that he might have IBS. He told me his sympthoms and I thought finally somebody who suffers like me. They never really told him what he has and I guess he wasn't so proactive (which is typical for men, I guess). Today I went to the store again and he told me that they finally did a sigmoidoscopy on him and unfortunatly it's colon cancer. He said he has symptoms since about 19 months. Because of insurance problems he couldn't get the diagnosis sooner. I feel so bad for him and know I am scared for myself again too. He doesn't have any family history of colon cancer or IBD and he is only 39 years old. I have symptoms since age 34 and now I am 39. If it would be colon cancer, woulnd't I be dead by know ??? What do you guys think ? It's scary when somebody has similar symptoms. I did have blood in my stool twice but the doctor wasn't worried because my simoidoscopy was fine the 2 years before. I sometime have a bit blood when I wipe even without stool ( I guess it's from straining, hopefully). I actually almost felt perfect the last 2 weeks and even my appetite came back. Only since yesterday I started to get more discomfort again. I am just wondering why the guys blood test came back normal. I think it was the regular blood test everybody gets for a check up. He got another different blood test last week which was abnormal ( it showed Hepatitis ). I am going on vacation tomorrow and I hate to worry on that trip about colon cancer again. Kathleen, what do you think ? It makes me so depressed. Just last week somebody my age died of a heart attack ( I am not worried about my heart even thought I have a heart defect). So scary when people around me are dying.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

Also, he said he has symptoms since 19 months. I thought with colon cancer, once the symptoms start you pretty much dying soon, but he has symptoms for 19 months ???? Is this unusual ? So far it's stage 2 cancer.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Well, as you may know, your symptoms came back right around the time you just found out something stressful. 5 years of symptoms, I believe you would be quite dead now if you had colon cancer.For the most part, a CBC is only going to show symptoms of colon cancer via anemia. Low RBC's or Hematocrit,etc. What was his symptoms? Blood in stool? If so, if he was having enough, that shouldve shown up on his CBC. If he wasnt having any blood loss, than that would explain it.I agree, reading/hearing about people our age who have similar symptoms getting a disease can be quite stressful. But you can also google stories of people dying of Brain Anuerysms your age, and how they had no symptoms. One day your sitting there fine,and then you die pretty quick. But all of us wont go get a brain MRI just in case! Try not to stress. Your symptoms have been more than persistant enough to rule out cancer. 5 years!?!?! Definately


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Wow, stage 2, he is EXTREMELY lucky! He has a great chance of beating this. Very great.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

Isn't it also surprising that he lasted 19 months with symptoms ?? Now they will check if the cancer has spread. I am hoping only the best for him.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Symptoms can once in awhile start earlier, but he could also have something else causing symptoms and that was a lucky thing as it made them look. Cancer doesn't start with symptoms, cancer starts silent. Only when it gets big enough to push on something, or pinch something, or make something bleed does it cause symptoms. Every once in a great while you get it in a spot where a small tumor hits something just the wrong way. But you also hear of people who have 30 pound tumors pulled out of their abdomen and other than looking a bit fat there was nothing to indicate anything was in there.Please, do not use this to spin yourself into a panic cycle, because sooner or later one person on this board will meat the 1 in a million with something rare. And typically we ignore the 1 out of 10 around us who has the common thing we are more likely to have. If you are looking for the proof you must be the other one in a million who has something really bad at a really rare age I'm sure that sooner or later you will find exactly the proof you want. It isn't healthy, but we all have a tendency to look only for the evidence we want to find.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Symptoms can once in awhile start earlier, but he could also have something else causing symptoms and that was a lucky thing as it made them look. Cancer doesn't start with symptoms, cancer starts silent. Only when it gets big enough to push on something, or pinch something, or make something bleed does it cause symptoms. Every once in a great while you get it in a spot where a small tumor hits something just the wrong way. But you also hear of people who have 30 pound tumors pulled out of their abdomen and other than looking a bit fat there was nothing to indicate anything was in there.Please, do not use this to spin yourself into a panic cycle, because sooner or later one person on this board will find one of the 1 in a million with something rare. And typically we ignore the 1 out of 10 around us who has the common thing we are more likely to have. If you are looking for the proof you must be the other one in a million who has something really bad at a really rare age I'm sure that sooner or later you will find exactly the proof you want. It isn't healthy, but we all have a tendency to look only for the evidence we want to find.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

so you mean symptoms for 5 years would be impossible, right ???


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There is nothing that is 100% impossible, but you are much more likely to be one of those guys on TV that gets struck by lightening 6 or more times.Some things are extremely rare, they do happen, but the chances of you being the one is really really really low, the chance you have IBS is 10-20%So if you line up 5 people (or 10 people depending on how the study runs) you have a good chance of being the one that gets IBS, but of course that somehow makes it completely impossible you have IBS and you are convinced you are the one out of hundreds of thousands or several million and I'm about ready to stop trying to convince you that you are the one person in all the world that get symptoms from your tumor from the time it had one single cell and will have symptoms for 45 years before it kills you.Nothing I say will stop you from constantly finding ways to freak yourself out and convince yourself you will be dead ASAP.Please let your doctor know that if you are being treated for anxiety you need more, or get some treatment if you are not getting any. All this angst over and over is much worse for you and much more likey to cause your death than colon cancer at 39. I worry you are going to panic yourself into a bad heart or a stroke. All that stress and anxiety is not good for you, and much more dangerous than everything you freak out about.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

hasenfuss said:


> Isn't it also surprising that he lasted 19 months with symptoms ?? Now they will check if the cancer has spread. I am hoping only the best for him.


If blood was his main and/or only symptom than no, it would not be that surprising. Me and WonkyColon have both spoken to different people who had bleeding for years before they were diagnosed with Colon Cancer(Both in their 20's as well) And they had bleeding for years before it was diagnosed. And both had curable colon cancer.I think the reason that blood symptoms can go on for so long, is that some people have polyps that bleed. So you can bleed for a few years, get checked up and, "oh, looky there, stage 1-2 colon cancer" because the bleeding started as a polyp.But if his symptoms were something else, then yes, like Kathleen said, he either just had something else going on and the timing of it was perfect or he had the cancer in a certain spot, along with him having more sensitive than normal bowels,etc.Ask a GI doctor and they will tell you, Colon Cancer IS a silent killer. It rarely produces symptoms. And it is quite a tough disease to figure out. Some people have no symptoms at all, go in for a normal colonoscopy, find out they have stage 4 colon cancer and dont have much time to live. Never knew they had cancer unless someone told them. Then you get someone who bleeds with every bowel movement for 2 years and they get diagnosed with stage 2 cancer, and will ultimately beat it, and probably without even having to have any chemo. Its crazy, and the more you try to figure out the labrynth that is colon cancer, the more anxiety it will make you endure.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

Now I am even more scared because I had bleeding twice with my stools. 3 years ago and about 2 years ago and sometimes I have blood when whipping. The doctor is not worried since I had a sigmoidoscopy 2 years prior from the bleeding and blood test were normal too. Other than that I have the typical IBS symptoms like frequent stools, loose stools, abdominal pain/discomfort. I don't have it every day anymore like I used too. I am very worried after you were writing about that bleeding can go on for so long and than it turns out to be cancer. Please write back to me because I am going on a trip tomorrow and I don't want to worry myself sick.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Colon cancer usually doesn't bleed one time and only one time. Once it is big enough to bleed once it is likely to be big enough and fragile enough to keep bleeding.

The doctor looked. your blood tests are fine.stop looking for reasons to freak yourself out!!!!Please get help for your anxiety, it will kill you a lot younger than anything else you spend time fearing.I don't want to stop replying to you, but if you are going to use every single thing I say to ramp your anxiety up then I am doing you no good and I feel like I'm part of the problem.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

I am so sorry, I don't want to bug you with my anxiety. I was actually feeling better lately. I wish I would have not gone to that store today and I wish I would have not ask that guy how he is doing esspecialy before my vacation. Anyway, it's reassuring that you wrote that bleeding is pretty much every day. I don't have it everyday. You do still help me calm my fears.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Hasenfuss, The people I talked to that had it, bled with EVERY bowel movement. There was no intermittent bleeding. Everytime they had a BM, there was blood. A tumor that bleeds, will not bleed once a year. Its a tumor that bleeds, so its going to bleed every time stool passes through.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

BIG THANKS for your reassurance ! I hope that store clerk will beat the cancer.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

If only at Stage 2, he has an incredibly great chance of beating Cancer. A really good percentage beat it at Stage 3, so he should be good to go.


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## WonkyColon (Apr 22, 2010)

Hasenfuss, you posts sound EXACTLY like mine! I was freaking out with the "OMG my butt's bleeding," and "I'd be dead by now, right? RIGHT?" and "I'm so sorry for bothering everybody with my anxiety" ... etc. I think at least half the people here have flipped out a few times thinking they've had colon cancer. It incapacitated me for a couple of months.You DO NOT have colon cancer. Your symptoms aren't consistent with it. My GI doc said that he has never, ever seen anyone who had chronic pain for years that turned out to be colon cancer. By the time colon cancer hurts, the disease is already very advanced. You couldn't have been in pain for a few years and still be alive. The others are also right that colon cancer bleeds constantly, not intermittantly. You have hemorrhoids or, ABSOLUTE worse-case scenario, bleeding polyps. You're going to be fine. I've just gotten done going through the same thing (read my posts if you want; it's a train wreck.)I think the guy you know if going to be fine, too. Stage 2 cancer has a very good prognosis, especially since he's young. It's when colon cancer spreads other organs that it's a problem.


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## hasenfuss (Dec 28, 2006)

Yes, I read your posts and I am glad that I am not the only one suffering from this kind of anxiety. I can't talk with anybody in person about my fears because I know they think I am crazy. I am feeling o.k right now but I know the symptoms always come back. I am glad this support group exists and I don't know what I would do without it.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Alot of people will suffer anxiety when dealing with chronic isses like IBS. And some of us go to extremes of how we self-diagnose ourselves with colon cancer.Whats funny is how I was thinking about the fear I once had, and I had a list I maderos:No blood in stoolMultiple negative FOBTs(And by multiple I mean way over the top amount of tests







)100% CBCDaily BMs with no constipationNegative Ultrasound29 years old, young for CCNo family history of CCNo pain when Im asleep, only awakeSometimes days, if not weeks with no pain.Pain is not localized, but generalized(Travels)Consain in generalYet somehow, I avoided all those Pros and just focused on the 1 con, and convinced myself I was probably going to die. So as you see and how Kathleen pointed out, we all try to think of the worst, which would be an incredible long shot, rather than thinking of the best,and what is most probably. The newfound issues your having are 100% related to the fact you just found out someone that is just like you has cancer. Enjoy your vacation and enjoy life


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## WonkyColon (Apr 22, 2010)

We're all here for you, hassenfuss. =) And you're not crazy-- just anxious.I got a colonoscopy, which cost an arm and a leg since I don't have insurance, but I feel SO much better now that I've got that reassurance. The fact that you've met a young person with colon cancer doesn't mean that you have it. My cancer flip-out started when my friend was diagnosed with terminal, stage IV pancreatic cancer at 28. I couldn't get the fear out of my head. But you'll meet people who have had all KINDS of strange things happen to them. My own husband has been struck by lightning THREE TIMES-- really, really weird. But I'm not going to spend the rest of my life indoors thinking that it will happen to me, too. Strange stuff happens.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

hasenfuss said:


> Yes, I read your posts and I am glad that I am not the only one suffering from this kind of anxiety. I can't talk with anybody in person about my fears because I know they think I am crazy. I am feeling o.k right now but I know the symptoms always come back. I am glad this support group exists and I don't know what I would do without it.


Speaking of crazy.







So today Im eating some lasagna during lunch(Around noonish) and as I ate it I was telling myself, "Self, dont freak out when you see red in your stool later on. You always pass red in your stool when you eat tomato paste,etc."So what do I do around 6? I have a BM and notice red in it. To me it looked way more like blood than tomato paste. So naturally I laugh at how I spent all this time telling you not to worry, and here I am doing the same thing. I think for some of us, we are just natural worriers, and take it to the extreme. Even though I specifically told myself earlier in the day that there would be red in my stool, I damn near let it mess up my evening thinking that it was just bad timing and happened to have blood for the first time, just so happened to be on the day I eat something loaded with tomatoes







Alot of us are just a mess. If it wasnt so funny, it would be scary.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Wow, where do I begin...So today I wake up and have a normal BM. I notice a tinge of red on the end, enough to worry about blood. So I save a sample, and go pick up an FOBT test from CVS. I get home and take the test and its positive. All blue. After 3 different tests, 3 different times over the course of 4 months, and now I get a positive one I did have a streak of blood on the toilet paper after wiping, like I normally do because of hemorrhoids, and my wife is telling me to chill, that the hemorrhoids is causing the positive. But the whole test strip was lit up blue. So my stool had to of been coated in it(Even though I visible only saw a little bit) Here I am trying to help people remain calm, and telling them the odds are in their favor, and now all I can do is assume after 4 months of dull abdominal pains, that Im one of the unlucky ones Im going to get an appointment on monday to do a Barium Enema Xray sometime this week. And go from there.


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## WonkyColon (Apr 22, 2010)

Bonzi...







We're a bunch of kooks, aren't we? You're FINE! It's the hemorrhoids. That's all it is. I've had hemorrhoids that caused the all-blue result, too. I PROMISE that you don't have colon cancer. Absolutely guarantee it. You're fine. Go ahead and get the barium X-ray to ease your fears. Knowing with certainty will make a huge difference.ETA: Also, if you had a big enough tumor to cause pain, they TOTALLY would have found it on ultrasound. Pain is a late-stage symptom, and by that point it's usually easy to spot. And, look at it this way: even if you had cancer (which you don't), if the tumor's too small to see on ultrasound it's only stage 1 or 2. Totally treatable. So even in the absolute worst case scenario, you are still going to be okay!


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback WC, it really means alot.When the whole + turned blue I absolutely almost passed out. I was thinking, "Great, 4 months have passed, I have just been letting this get worse." Im still a mess right now. I was praying and hoping what I saw was the lasgna from yesterday. Who knows, maybe it is and its just my hemmhroids affecting the test. My wife was telling me that a stool 10 inches long, with a red dot towards the end would not be the case if it was blood from a tumor. That the stool wouldve been covered in it, or at least streaked from one side to the other. Not just a dot at the end. But I still fear the worse.


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## WonkyColon (Apr 22, 2010)

I've had poo streaked with blood from end-to-end, and I definitely don't have CC. So the tiny amount of bleeding you're referring to is definitely within the range that's typical of IBS w/hems.I'm here for you. You were one of the people who talked me through my insanity when I was freaking out a while back. Keep us posted on your barium enema-- although I'm sure that you don't have cancer.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

I think my main issue is that I can count on one hand the amount of times Ive seen blood on my stool because of hems. And both times the blood seemed quite faint. This blood seemed more present, not so faint. Although one time a few months ago I felt some itching and burning so I went to wipe(Just wipe, no BM) and there was tons of blood, similar to what I saw today and yesterday, like a busted hemmorhoid. So I assume maybe I had a hemmy bust?I dont know why I took that stupid test. It clearly states not to take it if you have hemmhroids, and I knew I did. And have seen blood on the toilet paper after every wipe for the past week or so because of bad flare ups. Its just seeing it on the stool like that, and then the stupid test lighting up blue. <Sigh> anyway, thanks again WC. I appreciate your help.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Sorry, going to be a pain here a little more...A couple of other questions. I had a CBC sometime in April, which showed no signs of anemia, and matter of factly, the Hemtocrit and RBC were on the high side(Still in normal range, but high)Is it possible that I couldve passed all of those FOBTs(3 different sets, 1 in doctors office, rectal exam, 1 take home test with 3 seperate tests to do each day, and then another take home test a few weeks later) but still have had hidden blood?And final question, today when examining my stool, aside from the little bit of red at the end, it all looked clear. I took a piece from the top that didnt have blood on it, and examined it in a plastic bag, and it appeared to have super tiny red lines on the outside of the stool(like 2 or 3) would hemmhroids leave little traces like this along with a normal spot? Dont know if that was part of the blood or some of the tomato paste from yesterdays lunch. I know I need to quit analyzing this, but I really have not gone more than 1 minute today since 830am this morning without thinking about this.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Outside of the stool is usually from a hemmie as the bleed as it goes by and rubs on it and don't have time for the blood to get mixed in. Think of rubbing something rough over a scab on your arm. You get blood on the outside of whatever rubbed the wound raw.If you aren't anemic you can't be losing significant amounts of blood.Remember every number for health is a range. Usually there is the average number, the range that 95% of normal healthy people have and then outside that range or "abnormal". A lot of "abnormal" readings are clinically insignificant. Depends on the number, but a lot of healthy people are abnormal at least some of the time in at least one number. Every so often you end up in the 5% left over. You will never be perfectly average in all numbers all the time. It can't be done. Stop trying, and stop fretting that you can't do the impossible. Sometimes there is a space between "normal" and "clinically significant" So you can be outside the 95% of healthy people range and still not into numbers that mean something bad.And yep, extremely close examination of each stool to prove to yourself you must be dying isn't good for the anxiety, etc.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback Kathleen. Thats what was great when I got my CBC back. It was 100% within range of everything. I assumed all was good with my body!As for todays FOBT, I actually did it differently than the instructions called for. With a plastic spoon, I cut a piece off the side, and put it in a plastic bag. A small piece, no bigger than 2 tootsie rolls combined. There was small visible blood on it. The size of a gnat. I left to go to the doctors that I assumed was open on Saturday, but they were not. So I went to CVS and picked up the test. I got back home and did not want to put the stool back in the toilet since it was such a small amount. So I got a plastic cereal bowl and filled it with some water and put the stool in there. Then dropped in the test, and the rest is history. There probably was not as much water as the test calls for, actually not even close, but still. My only concern is that the stool had been in a bag and the outside of it had to have gotten rubbed off, so does that mean that the FOBT came up positive with blood "in" the stool, rather than out???But, not to forget, there was clearly blood on the outside of the stool, as this is the reason I saw it in the first place. Anxiety wise, I did much more worse than good by doing this Only thing I know, is as of April, I was not anywhere close to anemic. So if I have blood "in" the stool, it has only happened recently.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Also, forgot to mention, I had a bm yesterday morning around 9am(9 hours before the one that had blood on it) and it was almost diahrea. Not runny, but in about 30 pieces, and seemed to pour out of me. Per usualy, I checked for blood and nothing. Not a trace anywhere. The at 6pm, when I had another BM, I actually didnt really have to go that bad, but am a clean freak and was about to take a shower so I sat down and kind of "forced" it out. I didnt have to strain super hard, but more than usual, and out it came, with blood from the middle part, up to the top(the last part to come out) None on the first portion, so Im thinking maybe a busted hemmy around half way through the bm? Anyway, more info to help claim my insanity.


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## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

You can't do occult blood tests yourself. Send a sample to a lab and do it properly. I am almost certain it will be negative.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

The kind I used is a take home kind, you buy at a local drug store. You just drop a test paper in after a bowel movement and if theres blood in the stool, the card turns blue. There is nothing to send off. If its negative, it remains white.My main issues were, that I have taken these things 6 times( 3 in march and 3 in april) and they all 6 remained white after taking them. I believe they are hemmocult tests.The one I took at the doctors office when I first started having my stomach issues, was the kind where the doc takes stool from my anus and does the test there. I believe a guiac(sp?) test. That was negative as well.I just freaked out because Im not used to seeing blood like that. I remember about a month ago I strained to get some bowel out and saw a small streak at the end of one of my stools, and knew that was hemorrhoid related. This one seemed like more blood, and I just freaked. I have bled like that once before in early January, but havent since. Ill chill a bit, and keep an eye out. I just have to remember that a couple of times a year I just bleed like that from my hemorrhoids. Ive always assumed hemorrhoid bleeding is supposed to be faint.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Depends on how bad the hemorrhoid is. You can get from a few drops (most common as most people's aren't that bad) to enough it looks like a toilet full. (it doesn't take much blood to make all the water red)When they start bleeding frequently, or in enough quantity to be a blood loss health problem, or are so painful you can't sit then they will do surgery or other such treatments on them.So they can be more then just a drop of blood on the paper, but most people have fairly mild ones and never need more than a bit of ointment.Are you getting any help for the anxiety and need to constantly check for blood you can't see?They do sell the OTC occult blood tests in the USA, not sure if you have them in the UK. Usually people do a once a year check once they are over 50 if they want something extra between colonoscopies.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

So I had a bowel movement this morning. No visible blood. Figured Id throw in an FOBT strip(The test kit came with 5) waited 3 minutes and nothing. The card stayed white. My anxiety depleted by 90%.







I really was expecting to still get a positive result.Kathleen, as for my hemorrhoids, they are not too terrible. I can sit just fine,etc. I do have to use baby wipes after every BM, as toilet paper doesnt work. I would just be itching the whole time aftewards. There are times I have a BM and then later in the day go running,etc, and get back and my hemorrhoids are flared up with lots of itching and some blood when I wipe, but just a small streak.Im assuming that maybe the blood from the past few days were from a ruptured one? Or maybe a fissure? Not sure really. I have never had toilet bowl red blood before. But I have had my hemorrhoids ruture before without a BM(Just irritation and walking) and had to wipe up a crime scene of blood from my anus. For the most part my hemorrhoids are mild. And they are slightly internal, so I have to really wipe deep each BM, or they will itch and then bleed later in the day.Thanks for everyones support on this. The negative FOBT today has chilled me out. I might not be such a zombie today and actually enjoy fathers day with my son.


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## WonkyColon (Apr 22, 2010)

Bonzi, right after I gave birth, I had hems so bad that the toilet water was stained pink and I could soak an entire piece of toilet paper just by touching it to my extremely sore butt. I thought it was definitely IBD or cancer, but it was just awful hemorrhoids from straining to push out a baby. Blood in your poo is always something to mention to a doc JUST IN CASE it's something else, but you can have really, really bad bleeding from hems alone. Sometimes they are internal and you don't even know they're there until they bleed a lot.I am very confident that there is nothing seriously wrong. As I said before, a tumor big enough to cause pain would have appeared on your ultrasound.A HUGE happy father's day to you. Your son has a healthy, dedicated father who will stick around for dozens more father's day celebrations.


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Thats what my wife was talking to me about yesterday. 2 years ago she had 4 days of nothing but blood covered stool. She said you could not see the stool at all, just the blood coating it, and the doctor did an exam and said she probably had an internal hemmy bust or something.I myself know I have them. Mostly internal. It just freaked me out to see the blood. And then like an idiot I put a test in with the stool, which increased my anxiety. If it wouldve happened some other time, I wouldnt have been that bothered about it, but since I have had almost 5 months of annoying pains in both sides of my colon, I just put 2 and 2 together. My wife has helped calm me down by mentioning the 2 weeks or so from end of may til june when I had no pain and I was telling her how funny it was that I thought I couldve had CC. Boy I wish I could go back to that feeling!







Thanks again WC, the support is appreciated


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## WonkyColon (Apr 22, 2010)

I think that my husband and your wife both deserve medals for supporting us through our health anxiety. After my colonoscopy, my husband has admitted that he is SO relieved that he doesn't have to reassure me 10 times a day that I don't have colon cancer.Can we print T-shirts for the spouses of everyone on these forums?


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Funny thing is, if everything comes out clear on my end, I wouldnt trade the experience for anything in the world. Having the knowledge now about our digestive system, that I had absolutely no idea about in January, is priceless.And yes, the spouses are definately deserving of a prize of some sort


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## Bonzi (Mar 18, 2010)

Quick update(Since I somehow hijacked this thread during a brief meltdown







)Sunday and Monday, I was getting a decent amount of pain in all parts of my colon. Bowel movements were normal, no blood,etc. Had loss my appetite during those days because of stress and anxiety.Tuesday started feeling a little better, still a fair amount of random pain. Finally got a grip Tuesday night and relaxed. Wednesday was MUCH better, appetite back, passing all the built up gas, feeling much better. Today, almost no pain. One half second trapped gas pain, and then nothing else. Appetite raging, stress/anxiety down, and the symptoms all went down as well. Actually feel better today than I did prior to my meltdown. Feel much better, and seeing how stress/anxiety are the major factors.


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## adshel1985 (Nov 21, 2013)

Kathleen M. said:


> Colon cancer bleeds ALL THE TIME. Not once a year, but every day and it never stops.The doctor looked. your blood tests are fine.stop looking for reasons to freak yourself out!!!!Please get help for your anxiety, it will kill you a lot younger than anything else you spend time fearing.I don't want to stop replying to you, but if you are going to use every single thing I say to ramp your anxiety up then I am doing you no good and I feel like I'm part of the problem.


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## adshel1985 (Nov 21, 2013)

Hi Kathleen where did you get the information that colon cancers always bleed?? Because my research and GP say different! Some don't even bleed and some only bleed some of the time! Not sure you know what you are talking about to be fair and it's unfair to make out that you do, especially to people who are seeking help and are worried. My advice is to keep seeing your GP until you are satisfied with the diagnosis at least then your mind can relax.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

A one off bleed is unlikely to be a colon cancer. Tumors are pretty fragile so once they start bleeding they aren't likely to never bleed ever again between the first bleed and your death.

Yes they can be small enough to have not started bleeding, yet, but usually sometime between the time it starts and the time it kills you it will be big enough, and fragile enough to bleed.

Most of that blood is in small enough quantities you can't see it in the stool, but need a specialized test to find it.

Obvious blood on the outside of stool, especially if a one off or very occasionally is just a hemorrhoid. Although some hemorrhoids and anal fissures can get bad enough to bleed severely, it isn't that common.

Most of the symptoms people freak themselves out about is not colon cancer and convincing them it cannot be IBS, it probably is something worse, and they should never stop getting test after test until a cancer, or something really bad is found usually doesn't calm anyone down, either. Many of our anxious people cannot be calm the anxiety down on their own or with any GI testing, even repeated normal tests. They really, IMO, need to focus on the anxity treatment and not give in to it telling them to go to doctor after doctor after doctor as the anxiety will never be convinced the diagnosis of IBS is the right one.

Sorry if a years old post bothered you so much I edited it to hopefully still give the "calm down since the doctor says you are OK" and stop trying to convince yourself you are dying from cancer all the time messagse. (as I don't think that was the first, or last time someone is convinced the one and only thing that can ever cause any IBS symptom or hemorrhoid symptom is cancer).


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