Colon cancer at 20 years old?

Hello. For the past 1 and a half months I've been having constant diarrhea or constipation, bloating, in the past month I've had bright red blood in my stool and in the last days I noticed that the stool is narrow. I also have hemorrhoids but I know that they can't be the cause of constipation and other stomach problems, only the blood maybe. I am not anemic, or at least I wasn't 2 months ago, my doctor found leukocytes in my stool and my CEA marker was at 4.96, which, for a non-smoker, is high. I have to wait another 5 days until all my blood tests are done and the though of having cancer is driving me crazy. The part that worries me the most is the blood and the narrowing of the stools since  I know that those are common cancer issues. Can you share some of your knowledge? Did you have other problems that had the same symptoms as mine?

 

  • Hi Unfogriven213,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I can understand that this must be a little unsettling and it's never easy waiting for results.

    Try to avoid looking things up online and if you can then try to keep busy and distracted until you get your results. I hope it's not too much longer to wait.

    The best thing is to wait for your next appointment and to ask any questions you may have, but otherwise hopefully any others here will be along soon to share any experiences or offer support.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator

  • To quote the NHS website CEA levels may also be raised in non-cancerous conditions, such as liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis).. It is more likely, given your age, that you have some sort of inflammatory bowel disease.

    Constipation can often be improved by increasing your intake of water or other liquids. Exercise may also help or taking a probiotic supplement. Blood in stools is from hemorrids many times more often than it is from cancer. Narrow stools can be caused by many other things than cancer.

    Personally I do find googling useful because I dont focus on the worst possible outcome but look at what the possibilities are - and what the commonest outcome is. 

    You may have to have a colonoscopy but its very unlikely you have cancer.

  • Hi Unfogriven213,

    I have all of your symptoms right now and I am 20 as well. Can you please tell me what happened?