I have been worried about having bowel cancer for the last three months. However, it started about a year ago when I began having episodes where I would become very bloated, my intestines would gurgle loudly and it felt like I constantly had to pass wind but instead frothy mucus would come out (no stool) and it was clear and odorless. This would last maybe 30 mins to a few hours and resolve on its own. Currently I have had 6 of these episodes in the last year. I can’t seem to relate it to diet or lifestyle.
In the fall of 2018, I had an iron deficiency, which both the doctor and I thought was due to my abruptly stopping birth controls pills. At this time, I had only had one of the episodes above and was not too concerned about my intestinal health.
Beginning about three months ago I started to notice red chunks in my stool or red flecks. I became worried and went to the GP. The doctors have been great, they felt my stomach, did a rectal exam, I’ve had three blood tests, and two stool tests, and I'm currently waiting for a colonoscopy. I told them about the iron deficiency, so they checked my iron and it was in a healthy range. Blood tests were all normal, my stool test (for calprotectin/inflammation) came back in the grey area, so I waited two weeks and repeated the test which came back negative. I went back to the doctor saying I still see red and that I have been having yellow frothy stool now and morning diarrhea. So, she ordered the colonoscopy as she said she wasn’t confident with my stool test results. She said not to worry about cancer as I am only 28 years old…but I still worry.
I have a family history of bowel cancer and so I am very scared of my symptoms. It would be great if you could share your similar symptoms with me and help to ease my anxiety.
Thanks for reading!
