Newly- possible bowel cancer

Hi, I'm a 75 year old male, and after a change in bowel habits which hadn't sorted themselves out after a month, I went to my go, who gave me sample containers for poo samples. One came back negative (7 ug/g and the other positive at 26ug/g, I don't know if this is serious or not. I then had to go and have blood tests done and another poo sample. I have been given the blood sample results, which mean nothing to me, and am waiting for the gp to get in touch and explain the results. Needless to say, I'm rather worried, and the waiting isn't helping. My bowels still aren't back to normal, and for a couple of days I had terrible pain across my abdomen, as if the muscles were hoing into cramp, I could hardly move with the pain. This has more or less cleared. I'm only posting this to get things of my chest a little, so thanks for bothering to read it.

  • Hi I had the same symptoms that lasted for at least 6 weeks before I went to the Docs ,I had the tests that you're describing called a "fit test " and mine too was elevated which meant I was sent for a colonoscopy at the Hospital , I remember being quite worried at the time ,who wouldn't be but after the colonoscopy I was told I had Diverticulitis and Polyps etc which caused the positive fit test ,I know you'll be worried its only natural but its much more likely to be something that's not serious causing your symptoms ,it could be many other things than cancer ,so I hope you get sorted out soon ,if you want to ask any questions I'll try and answer them for you .

  • The FIT test is just a test for blood in your poo. It isn't a test for anything serious. I mean, blood in the poo can be a symptom of some serious things like bowel cancer, diverticulitis and IBD but it can also be caused by very minor things like hemorrhoids or a fissure and given that one of your tests was negative and the other is still fairly low, the odds of one of the more minor explanations is probably high. About 1 in 10 positive FIT tests are cancer, but that includes tests with results like 900. Not that lower ones can't be cancer, but I think the risk is higher with a higher result.

  • Thanks for your replies, they were very encouraging. Referred for colonoscopy within next 2 weeks, so hopefully that will give some indication of what the problem is. Thanks again for your replies.