Bleeding with bowel cancer

My 84 year old Mum has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, but because of her age and frailty, it has been decided that she will not have any treatment. However, every time she goes to the toilet she loses a huge amount of blood. She also bleeds intermittently between toilet visits.  It has got to the point where she can no longer go out. She has had one iron drip which did nothing.  There must be something that can be done to stop the bleeding but every site I look at it just tells you what to do if you bleed, not how to stop it.

She is severely anaemic and spends a lot of time resting

  • Hello SarahWW,

    I'm sorry to hear about your mum. It's difficult to offer a solution but it might be worth going back to her doctors, if you haven't already, as they might suggest another way to reduce the bleeding. There are also some suggestions on the NHS website around iron deficiency anaemia, which I hope might be useful in improving her energy levels. If you ever want to talk to someone about your mum's symptoms, you can contact our team of nurses via the free helpline. You can call them on 0808 800 4040, lines are open from 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.

    All the best,

    Moderator Anastasia