Hi guys, 23 year old female here! Sorry in advance for the long rant. It's been a really difficult 3 months and I just need to get it all off my chest in a supportive environment.
I'm hoping by posting this I'll be able to feel a bit less anxious and worried - the last few months have been very tough. To go back to the beginning, at the very start of August my bowel movements all of a sudden changed. I went to the bathroom and found it extremely painful. It felt like I was trying to poop out shards of glass. When I looked into the toilet bowl I was just expecting to see a lot of blood that's how painful it was. There was no blood visible but I was shocked to see that my stool was narrow, flat small pieces and it was only a small amount. I was kind of worried because my stool had never looked like this. Up until now, I've never had any bowel problems; never constipated, very rarely had diarrhea and never had to strain and the shape and size of my stool was always normal.
My stool continued to look like that for several days and it was always very small amounts once a day. The pain was mild to moderate and I was straining a lot and felt like there was still more to push out but couldn't come out. After a few days, the appearance changed to long and a bit narrow and completely flattened. Again it was like this for a few days and it was a small bit painful and involved lots of straining.
At this stage it was the end of August and I was starting to get worried (thanks to doctor google) so I made an appointment to see a doctor. She asked me about my family history with colon cancer and I told her my great grandmother passed away from it. She then referred me to the hospital where they did my bloods and x-rayed my abdomen to check for any obstruction. Both tests came back fine my bloods were normal and they said all they could see in my bowels was stool and gas. I expressed my concerns of it being cancer and they said because of my age they didn't think there was a high chance of it being that and put me on a routine waiting list for a colonoscopy. They told me I'd only be waiting 6 for weeks but that wasn't the case.
After my visit to the hospital I thought I was getting better, my stool size and shape had returned to normal and it wasn't flattened but it was very dry and hard stool and the unbearable pain of pushing it out was back and sometimes there was a smear of blood on my stool. I put it all down to a possible fissure and waited for my appointment for my colonoscopy while avoiding google and trying to stay calm.
8 weeks went by and I wasn't any better. The small skinny flat stool was back and thankfully the pain is completely gone but I still occasionally see a small bit of blood of my stool which is very scary especially because I had no pain. I rang the hospital to see how much long I'll be waiting and their exact words were "a very long time".. This was such devasting news for me because I was waiting for this colonoscopy so I could finally put my mind at rest and move on with my life. I decided to pay to see a private consultant who listened to my symptoms and put me on the urgent list for a colonoscopy and endoscopy. He told me to try not to worry and that usually with people my age it turns out to be nothing but at this rate I am a nervous wreck. I have been suffering with these odd symptoms for 3 long months with no sign of improving. In fact, in the last two weeks I've began to expedite a sharp pang of pain in my upper abdomen that comes out of nowhere and lasts for a second or two and I have only been passing a very small amount of skinny flat stool every one to two days. My heart starts pounding everytime I look into the toilet bowl and see blood on my stool especially now that the pain is gone so I can't explain it away with being a tear or something like that.
I cry most days about it and find it very hard to concentrate on anything for long periods of time because I just have a sense of doom. All I keep thinking is "what else could it be but colon cancer?" As of now, I'm waiting for a call from the hospital with my appointment for my scopes and my doctor told me they'll be ringing hopefully this week.
Sorry again for the long rant, I've just not been coping these last few weeks. I'm hoping that by posting this I can get some advice or more information to try and relax me while I wait for my scopes. Thank you ️
