Hey!

I can't really help but wanted to reach out as I'm in a similar boat. I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my mum when she was in her early forties to colon cancer and I was 22 so I have massive health anxiety now as a result. I had some issues - blood in stools and I have just (on Monday) had a colonoscopy where they found a 12mm polyp. Thankfully it looks benign but they took 8 biopsies anyway.

If something feels wrong, I'd push to get a colonoscopy - my GP tried to pass it off as stress, health anxiety or IBS as I'm too young (28) to have anything serious but I moaned constantly and they finally sent me in - thankfully! They have already said I'll be going in for check-up colonoscopies moving forward to keep an eye on things as I'm high risk due to finding a polyp and my family history (yay!), but if I hadn't pushed, it might have got picked up too late like my mums was.

Colonoscopy isn't fun but it's not as bad as you think. The prep is the worst part, but it's worth it for the peace of mind. If they still won't send you, go private. An out of hours GP told me that if you pay for the consultation and explain your situation 9/10 they will do the tests on the NHS so it doesn't cost a bomb.

Good luck!