I am only 28... may have colon cancer..

clarissairene

Hello,

I am only 28 years old and very scared. I have been having rectal bleeding for about 6-8 months. I seriously thought it was just hemoroids. Becuase the bleeding comes and goes and I do strain sometimes and it bleeds after.
Then I also suffer from panic attack/anxiety disorder... or so my doctor says i do. So I have been feeling nauseauous for a while and doctors just told me it was from anxiety and take a pill.

The past 2 weeks I have been bleeding alot and my stomach feels full and i havent been hungry in a couple of days and I have sever nausea. So I went to the doctors yesterday thinking i have hemroids and possibly pregnant... Nope. He did a rectal exam and said I do not have hemroids and this is serious... He mentioned, colon cancer, ulerative colitis, and some other gastric infection. So I am very scared. My sigmoidoscopy is on Wednesday morning.

I am so angry and confused right now. I eat like crap. I always have. I havent eaten a vegtable in years. So i am thinking... I did this to myself.

So I guess my questions to you is... do you know of or are any of you in there mid twenties and have something like this happening? Are there other things this could be besides cancer?

Thanks for any help. I am a wife and a mother of a 3 year old and I just want to be healthy and live for them.

kerry

My first reaction is to tell you to not jump to conclusions. Wait until the tests are completed. My second is to tell you to have a colonoscopy rather than a sigmoidoscopy. Have your whole colon checked rather than 1/4 of it.

Early detection means if you have colorectal cancer, it can be more easily treated and your chance of living a long life are increased.

Let us know how your tests come out and then come back here for any support you may need.

Kerry

2bhealed

hi there,

Colon cancer knows no age. Yes it can happen. But i echo kerry...get a colonoscopy.

My sister was sick for years and b/c of her young age she kept being misdiagnoised. It was quite frustrating. They would tell her she was anorexic, or maybe lupus, or whatever. But they would not do the proper tests. By the time she went to Mayo Clinic it was "too late" and was she was seriously ill. She was 29 at dx.

Let this be a positive wake-up call to change your diet. Colon cancer is 80% dietary related which means it is quite preventable.

It is also curable with dietary changes.

So take a deep breath and then get ready to be your best advocate for your health.

And get that colonoscopy.

peace, emily who was dx'ed at 39 b/c no one had ever told her to get a colonoscopy.

kangatoo

2bhealed said:

hi there,

Colon cancer knows no age. Yes it can happen. But i echo kerry...get a colonoscopy.

My sister was sick for years and b/c of her young age she kept being misdiagnoised. It was quite frustrating. They would tell her she was anorexic, or maybe lupus, or whatever. But they would not do the proper tests. By the time she went to Mayo Clinic it was "too late" and was she was seriously ill. She was 29 at dx.

Let this be a positive wake-up call to change your diet. Colon cancer is 80% dietary related which means it is quite preventable.

It is also curable with dietary changes.

So take a deep breath and then get ready to be your best advocate for your health.

And get that colonoscopy.

peace, emily who was dx'ed at 39 b/c no one had ever told her to get a colonoscopy.

Hiya..I have to agree with the others here.The sigmoidoscopy will certainly reveal any abnormlities(notice I did not say cancer !)
However I must relate to you my experience. In 1997 I too had bleeding but no other symptoms. A specialist did a sigmoidoscopy and Haemharroids were detected and so he put the bleeding down to that and told me to ignore the bleeding until it got worse or I experienced pain. I did just that...until things got worse in 2003...more bleeding, with stomach cramps.I had another sigmoidoscopy...nothing was found but I was admitted to have the haemharroids fixed.I was under anaesthetic when the surgeon decided to look further and he discovered the tumours.The surgery was stopped there and then.The thing was that in those years between 1997 and 2003 no tumuors were found because the sigmoidascope can only look so far...my tumours were JUST out of view! I then had a colonoscopy and barium enema and 3 tumours were found.
Of course the rest is history, colon resection, chemo and now NED!
The reason for telling you this is that bleeding can come from anywhere...indeed, some who have colon cancer never bleed at all. But the thing is that a sigmoidoscopy can only allow a surgeon to see a very small distance up the colon(hence the name sigmoidoscopy). My main tumour was a 2/3 blockage and was unable to be seen in initial sigmoidascope viewings.
Don't go jumping any bridges yet. As your gp says there are many other causes of your pain, nausea and stomach fullness. BUT......
If it was me I would be very keen to ask for a full colonoscopy.In fact I would expect your gp to ask for one if the sigmoid viewing turns up nothing.
Hang in there...we all share your concerns...but waiting is unfortunately a part of our journey,
All the best from OZ, Ross and Jen

Unknown

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chynabear

unknown said:

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I'm sorry that I don't have the time right now to read all of the responses on this thread so I know I am going to repeat a lot of good information already given to you. Your thread caught my attention.

I just turned 28 the beginning of october. I was 27 at dx of stage III colon cancer (also october one year ago). My Onc said that I probably had cancer for around five years at dx, which would put me at 22.

That being said, we are so misdiagnosed because the doctors mostly don't get their heads out of the books because of our ages. It took a new graduate to start the right steps that led me to my dx and my new chance on life. I went to the first dr around 2000 or 2001 because of bleeding. I was told hemhrroids (sp?). I went to the next doctor Aug 2004 and was told (rudely, don't get me started ) that it was probably a small tear in my bowel. I then went in Sept 2004 and this wonderful dr said that there are a multitude of causes for blood to be present.

I feel I am wording this poorly. My point is this: You can't rule out cancer just because of your age. On the same token, you have to look at all of the other possibilities. My last doctor listed off numerous possible causes saying that without a proper COLONOSCOPY (note: not sigmoidoscopy) they would not be able to tell me what is wrong. I mean, if they are going to invade us, it might as well be for a good cause.

It is awesome that you are recognizing your poor eating. It took me a while to take ownership for the parts I have done to contribute to my cancer. The best part is that you have realized a problem and can now fix it. There are a lot of wonderful people on this site; we are a family of sorts, who can give you excellent nutrition advice. Even if this turns out not to be cancer (let us pray!) it is an excellent time to make changes. If you are interested, go pick up "Beating Cancer with Nutrition" by Dr. Patrick Quillin. Even if it is not cancer, he has GREAT information as to how our bodies work and how important nutrition is to us. There are other excellent books related as well. I have not read the others yet, but plan too. Browse back many pages and there is a thread started about good reading.

If you are interested in talking further, please don't hesitate to send me an email through this board and we can decide on a line of communication. I also have a small child. She was only a year old when I was diagnosed and all I wanted was to be here to take care of her.

I wish you the best and pray that your tests find something minimal. But, as I said, please consider changing your diet now. What I wish I knew then what I know now.

Patricia