Terrified I have bowel cancer

I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2017 following stomach pains, constipation followed by diarrhoea, and a sudden massive bleed. .The colonoscopy found a large and potentially very nasty tumour I had my entire sigmoid colon removed within 2 weeks of the diagnosis, my feet did not touch the ground during those 2 weeks, with scans and blood tests. I was by then losing so much blood I had become severely anaemic and needed iron infusions. The laparoscopic surgery was a success, I didn’t need a stoma as the surgeon was able to rejoin the 2 ends of my bowel. Best of all, the cancer had not had a chance to spread.

I’m still having regular blood tests and had a colonoscopy last year, all is fine so far.

You are doing the best thing by contacting your doctor. I will keep my fingers crossed for you that it is not cancer, but whatever the outcome there is treatment available.

I’m very sorry to hear about your brother, I and some other survivors are campaigning to raise awareness of the risk of bowel cancer in people under 50.

Diverticulitis is an inflammatory disease, and fatigue is found among people with it (according to a FDA study)... those most affected are female, 60+ years old.

It can also cause both constipation and the opposite (which I can't spell) - and either of these can lead to the sensation of incomplete emptying.

But you need to get it checked out, obviously. Colon cancer is relatively slow-growing, and highly treatable if caught early and, in my case, also 'just in time'.

I had both diverticulitis and bowel cancer (Stage 3c) in 2010 and am now totally discharged from the oncology unit with no evidence of disease.

Do not fret about it - get into action mode, you'll feel tons better.

... and passing excessive wind is one of the symptoms of diverticulitis.

shinamae there is excellent advice from m0nica The consultant carrying out my colonoscopy last year assured me bowel cancer is very slow growing and there would be no need for a cancer check within the next five years (the GP has dispatched me for one a year for other issues). Of course he was referring to me, not sure if his comments could be generalised. You’ll feel a lot better for seeing your GP, the exhaustion you describe can have a myriad of causes as can the sense of the bowel not emptying properly. Try not to worry today, rest if you can.

I'm sorry you lost your brother too. 49 is no age and must have left an enormous gap in your life. Please be kind to yourself

I think Monica has more or less summed it up but working part time in a care home at almost 70 is bound to make you feel exhausted after a shift! I would consider it normal

I’ve had bowel issues for many years and yes it can be scary when problems flare up. There are so many reasons for changes in the digestive system other than cancer. Your tiredness could well be caused by your understandable level of anxiety. Anxiety can also make symptoms feel worse. I’m sure your concerns will be taken seriously by your doctor and hope that there will be no sinister cause for your current discomfort.

What Monica said - excellent advice Shinamae try and relax a bit for the rest of the day.

Great post Monica! and Shinamae contact your GP thinking of you .

Shinamae I can understand your fear, my DDiL's family have the same disease in their country and her father died of the disease when she was 7.

BUT

There is a big difference, you are being regularly checked and monitored, you have had checks in the last year. If you do have cancer, then it will have been caught in the very early stages, so your prognosis will be good. It is now nearly 20 years since your brother died and since then there have been enormous strides made in treating all kinds of cancers, including bowel cancer. The disease is much easier to treat, especially in the early stages.

You also, as you say, have other medical problems in the lower abdomen and the symptoms you have could relate to them and not to cancer.

None of us can say anything to assuage your real and justified fear, but get to your GP as fast as you can and know, in the meanwhile, that we will all be here to comfort you during your wait.