Scared of bowel cancer

Hi All,

I am 21 year old male and for the past 4/5 weeks I’ve had increasingly worse pain from my stomach. It can very from a stabbing pain to feeling fullness/discomfort. My stool is slightly normal in the morning but throughout the day it becomes watery. I also have frequent gas way more than normal. I’ve spoken to my GP who originally thought it was just IBS. After the problem persisted he recommended a stool sample which came back normal on Friday. I’ve still had problems throughout all this and I’m so stressed I keep thinking I have bowel cancer. I just wanted to know can a stool sample miss bowel cancer ? I know my chances of getting it are low but I still have this nagging doubt. I haven’t had any blood in my stool I think except for once but I think that was hemorrhoids from straining. I haven’t had a loss in weight or fatigue but still have this pain. I genuinely don’t know if I should wait to see if I get better or contact my GP again feel so lost. Any advice would be appreciated 

  • Hello AH99,

                     you ask can a stool sample miss bowel cancer.A stool sample does not check for the presence of cancer,but the presence of blood,which then triggers further investigations as to the cause of the bleeding.A clear sample would indicate no presence of an advanced tumour,

                                                                                                                                          David

  • I think I’m just being paranoid but it’s like any little change makes me assume the worst. Plus seeing stories about people on here who have had normal stool samples be diagnosed later is what scares me.