Hi all, just after some other experiences. My mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 37. She recovered from this thankfully but sadly passed away at only 59 from liver cancer. For the past few months every so often I have had bright red blood after a bowel movement on the toilet paper. I assumed it was just piles as I have had three children. I also started to become extremely fatigued - not just really tired - literally not being able to keep my eyes open on the afternoon or still feeling exhausted in the morning after 9 hours sleep. Again, I'm a working mum with three young children so just thought it's normal. I also started to have a tender lower abdomen (when my youngest jumps on my lap I'm gritting my teeth) I didn't really notice any bowel habit changes because, again, I'm a busy mum rushing on the school run/to work/children's clubs etc. But when I look back, my stools have become softer and I don't always feel I've completely emptied my bowels, sometimes only being able to go a little bit. I've also lost weight unintentionally - not anything significant- but enough for people to keep saying 'wow you've lost weight' (this would be great if it weren't coupled with the other symptoms!!) Anyway a couple of weeks ago after more blood on toilet paper I thought enough is enough I need to get checked then if it's piles I can get it sorted. I had a digital rectal examination and she could find no evidence of piles. She felt my tummy and she can feel some sort of mass / enlarged organ where it's tender. She said maybe it's just an extra large uterus but given everything else and my family history it needs investigating. So shes referred me for an ultrasound of my abdomen and blood test. I had the blood test on Tuesday and I called yesterday for the results and they told me a clinician has reviewed and recommends I make an appointment to discuss with GP. The receptionist did say that she's spoken to the doctor who reviewed and said it's not major urgent, so at least I'm not severely anaemic, which the doctor said would mean urgent colonoscopy. However there's obviously some abnormalities there and I have to wait until Thursday to find out. I haven't had an ultrasound appointment through yet, she said it's usually quite quick though. So basically I wondered if anyone else had been in a similar situation? I'm still (maybe naively) convinced it's not bowel cancer, I am 37 and luck would really be against us if I were to have it at exactly the same age as my mum, but then again my symptoms are worrying.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my essay and thank you if you got to the end!!
