Blood in toilet bowl

Hi all, apologies in advance if this gets a little graphic! My mum has had this issue for the past few months where there’s nothing to wipe when she has a poo. She also sometimes gets a pain in her sides while she is on the toilet, and she’s lost half a stone in weight this year (although we have had a very stressful year). However, today, when she flushed the toilet, it didn’t all go, although she didn’t realise as the seat was down. A few hours later, she found the toilet water was stained with blood, from the bit of poo still there. Could this be anything to worry about? She had breast cancer nearly 5 years ago; I’m just so scared it might be bowel cancer. Any advice would be appreciated! Mum has a doctors appointment, but not for another couple of weeks.

  • Hello and thanks for your post

    I’m sorry you are worried about your mum's pain and bleeding from the bowel and can understand you wanting to find out more.

    I'm afraid we are unable to diagnose or tell anyone if anything is the matter. Symptoms can have straightforward medical explanations. Bleeding from the bowel can be caused by many different reasons and you can read more about this on the NHS website. But only a doctor can make a medical assessment so it's good that your mum has an appointment coming up with her GP to get checked out just to be on the safe side.

    Doctors are trained to assess symptoms and can arrange tests if they feel it’s necessary to try to find out what might be going on.

    I hope you both know more about your soon. Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

    Kind regards,

    Celene