Hi everyone,
I've had a rollercoaster few months. In may/june I found myself feeling unusually fatigued all the time and my stomach occasionally bloated and my bowel habits being irregular - I put it down to just being busy but at the beginning of july things got alot worse. Over a period of a few days my lower right abdomen was in constant agony, my bowel movements completely stopped for days after passing bloody mucus. I was rushed into hospital with suspected appendicitis, but all my bloodwork and scans came back normal. After 4 days of pain they went in to investigate via keyhole surgery, I woke up and was told they took my appendix out as a precaution, i should feel fine in a few weeks.
A few weeks later the symptoms all returned, this time the pain spreading to my left side too. A dull ache grew across my lower back, a prickling sensation daily across my stomach and a swollen belly that makes me look pregnant. I've lost a stone in weight, pass blood in my stools constantly and even after I've been I never feel empty. I have returned to my GP and A&E multiple times since July and have been told it's probably been IBS all along. But it's all been getting consistently worse, so finally decided to pay privately and was referred to have a colonoscopy.
The friday just gone, my day finally came. Again, on entering the room the doctor said it's probably IBS (at this point i should point out I'm only 39) but once the camera was in they found 7 polyps, one 15mm. All were removed and am now waiting for results of the biopsys. We have a strong family history of the woman on my dads side of the family having bowel cancer and am very afraid.
It feels like it has been a constant battle to get this far and get anyone to listen to me, it's made the whole experience even more traumatic. I feel I have been discounted every step of the way due to my age and no one has taken me seriously even with my family history. If they suspected something sinister during the colonoscopy - would they have suggested that there and then? Or is it simply waiting for the biopsies before that is even discussed?
