I really don't think you have a one in four chance of having cancer. I've always read that only one in ten positive cases turn out to be cancer and those cases will include older people (who are far more likely to have bowel cancer), people with other severe symptoms and people with far higher results. (Ah, I've seen a website that says one in four, but that is very much the highest I've seen. Others say stuff like 10% or even 4% and either way, they are including all results over 10 and people of all ages.)
While there is no result that indicates cancer (it just tests for blood in the stool and any amount could be caused by many things), I am pretty sure that a 70 year old with a result of 700 is more likely to have cancer than a 40 year old with a result of 12.
After all, a result below 10 means that cancer is extremely unlikely, so I would say it's still pretty unlikely with a result of 12.
If it's any consolation, when I was 40, I had rectal bleeding, weight loss, occasional loose stools and trapped wind (I didn't get a FIT test because this was after the Irish health system got hacked and things were sort of in chaos) and the consultant said that at my age, I'd be "the unluckiest person in the world" if it turned out to be cancer.
There was nothing to cure. It was just hemorrhoids, which was what we all expected, probably combined with the effects of thyroid medication and probably the stress of the whole thing.
