I am trying really hard not to think the worst. I've been having bowel problems for 5 months and have recently had a sigmoidoscopy which revealed haemorrhoids. I was so relieved that it was not anything serious and was happy thinking I can get treated for haemorrhoids and go back to living a normal life.

But during this time, I have ignored knee pain in my right leg which has become a lot worse. Now I can't walk up or down the stairs without limping and sometimes it is excruciating if I suddenly bend my leg. The pain wakes me up at night.

I'm trying to recall my earlier symptoms and I remember my right knee started clicking last year in May with mild pain and it gradually got worse this year. I never used to go to the GP, the first time I went was in March when I first started passing blood in my stools.

I had a telephone appointment with a physiotherapist on Friday. She asked if I had any injury/trauma to that area which I haven't. She also asked if my lifestyle has changed and the only thing I could think of is that I've lost a lot of weight for no reason but I've been trying to gain weight safely for a month and still continuing to lose weight.

She sounded concerned about this and asked if I mentioned this to my GP. I said yes and said that it fast-tracked my sigmoidoscopy which only revealed haemorrhoids. She also asked if I had a blood test and I said yes and that it came back normal. I forgot to mention that it was just a renal function blood test. Would this have been important to mention?

She also asked if I have numbness and I said I get numbness like once or twice a day in my hands and feet. She sounded concerned and I said I've had this all my life and thought it was normal. She then asked if I have had cancer before and I said no.

She's booked me a physiotherapy assessment for the 1st of September. I'm not sure what to expect?

I started researching afterwards and read on the MacMillan website that:

"Children, teenagers and young adults with unexplained bone swelling or pain should have an urgent x-ray within 2 days. If the x-ray suggests a possible bone cancer, your GP should refer you to a specialist within 2 days."

This does make me wonder why I haven't had an urgent x-ray since I am a young adult. I was also a late bloomer with puberty and growing so this is making me concerned. The only thing that reassured me when I had bowel problems was that bowel cancer is a lot more common in older people, but bone cancer is more common in teenagers and young adults.

It's really sad to think that while they're figuring themselves out and thinking so much about their future in school, they're being thrown with this. I can't imagine how difficult this is and it has made me more appreciative of life. It's also made me feel so strongly about supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust as they are so amazing to improve their quality of life and treating them like young people first. 

I hope after my physiotherapy assessment, I do get offered an x-ray because it would definitely give me peace of mind if I can have one.