Hi thank you so much for the reply. I’ve paid for my initial appointment with gastro but there is no way I would be able to afford a private colonoscopy which is stressing me out as I’ve heard the waits are extremely long due to covid. 

What about a sigmoidoscopy? I went to the doctor last Friday and have a sigmoidoscopy tomorrow which is so quick. I would ask for one if I were you . Good luck Lucy x

If you don’t mind me asking what age are you as I feel my age is the reason they aren’t too concerned about my symptoms. I had asked they would refer me for a colonoscopy but was told they couldn’t do that. I’m glad things are moving fast for you and wish you all the best x

Thank you Lucy, I am 63 x

Hi Lucy I'm in a similar situation I'm 29 myself and for 2.5 years have had blood on the toilet paper on and off but the stools where quite hard at the time due to high fibre diet so put it down to piles but unfortunately I lost my mum to lung cancer last November was absolutely awful and since I've had anixtey, stress, depression,fear. and for the past 6 months now have had really painful abdominal pain all over upper and lower, stomach ache, lots of trapped wind, bad reflux. doctor has said it's IBS but I don't want to be fobbed off with it and said I can't live my life normal again until I have a colonoscopy lucky doctor has agreed but won't fast track it as they don't believe it's cancer at my age I hate that they don't check ASAP as ibs is easy mistaken for colon cancer at any age 

Hi thanks for the reply, so sorry to hear about your mum passing away. I’m in the same situation as you, my doctor won’t fast track me either as they obviously don’t think it’s anything serious, but I also can’t live my normal life anymore either, I am constantly thinking about it and it’s just so frustrating how long it is taking for them to find out what the problem is. I really hate the waiting game and by stressing out every second I just feel like I am making the situation worse I just don’t know what to do. But hopefully it won’t take too long for your colonoscopy to come through and I hope it is nothing as serious as you think x

Hi Lucy, 

It's comforting to see that I'm not the only one in this situation. I'm a 23 year old female who has been showing symptoms of colon cancer for 3 months now - thin flat stool and sometimes with blood. I too went to my doctor who referred me to hospital. They put me on a routine waiting list for a colonoscopy  and said because of my age they don't think it's anything serious. It's really frustrating to be told that just because you're young it's normal to all of a sudden have a dramatic change in the appearance of your stool and pass blood occasionally?! The doctor told me that I'd be waiting 6 weeks tops for my colonoscopy which I knew was a massive lie because the waiting list here in Ireland is ridiculously long. After 8 weeks I rang for an update on how long I'd be waiting and their exact words were "a very long time" . I decided then that my only option was to pay to see a private consultant and had my doctor refer me to one. He cost me €120 and put me on the urgent waiting list for a colonoscopy on the PUBLIC list rather than private which means I won't have to pay a cent. He said I should be waiting 2-3 weeks and his receptionist rang me on Monday to say that the hospital should be ringing this week with an appointment for me. I'm not sure how the system works where you live but my advice would be to talk to your doctor and see if a service like this is provided where you can get bumped up on the list? 
 

I know exactly how you must be feeling because I'm feeling the exact same way so I thought I'd reach out to you. Sometimes just knowing you're not alone in this makes the world of a difference ️

Hi Thankyou for replying x 

I'm glad things are now moving faster for you and hope you find out what's going on soon. 
 

I must have rang the doctors 20 times now asking them to do more and they just don't seem too bothered, I know they are the doctors and they know best but I know my body and know something isn't right. As everything is moving so slow right now I've decided to pay for my initial appointment with the gastro doctors which was £150, however If they don't refer me for a colonoscopy I won't be able to pay for one privately which means I will just be waiting longer. It's just so frustrating that after 3 months now nothing is moving forward and I just feel worse and worse everyday. I've now noticed 2 lumps under my armpit and one on my leg, I don't know if this is related but it just adds to the stress and I just feel like I can't live my life until I know what's wrong. 
 

Thankyou so much It feels better knowing I'm not alone x 

Hi Lucy, 

I 100% understand when you say  the same you feel like you can't live your life until you know that's wrong because I feel the exact same way. My only advice to you would be to try everything possible to keep your mind off it until you see your gastro doctor. I know it's not an easy thing to do, trust me I'm in the same boat, but all this anxiety can't be good for either of us! X can I ask when your appointment with the gastro doctor is?