Not sure about the symptoms I'm having...please help

Alswife05
Alswife05 Member Posts: 3
in Anal Cancer #1
I went to a surgeon today, thinking I had hemorroids and a fissure (my regular doctor sent me to him)I had surgery before on both of those situations. However, for quite a while now, I've had bleeding both on the toliet paper and in the toilet, not a lot, but some. I have also had a lot of pain in the butt area, and its starting to feel like I'm sitting on a ball or something else. It also feels like there's something down in that area. It also stings and burns as well. I just feel pressure or something that in that area. My dcotor is wondering if maybe I should go see a Coloretal cancer specialist since cancer runs in my family and after checking me out today, does not see any hemorroids or fissure. I've had precancer in my cervix and I've also had precancerous polyp in my colon (my mom's mom had colon cancer) I'm not sure what to do. I do not want to make a big deal out of it, but I think there's something going on. What did you guys feel like when you had Anal cancer? Please help. Thanks.

Comments

  • mp327
    mp327 Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #2
    Hi Alswife--
    Having been diagnosed with anal cancer, which was the biggest shock of my life, I would advise you to definitely see a specialist who can perform a scope called an anoscopy on you, along with a colonoscopy. If you've had pre-cancer in your cervix, then you are at risk for anal cancer. My symptoms were similar to yours--bleeding, pressure, and a feeling of never getting completely emptied out after a BM. I also had unexplained weight loss, bloating, cramping and chronic constipation. Never did I dream that those symptoms were that of anal cancer Please don't put off getting an appt. I wish you the very best.
  • mxperry220
    mxperry220 Member Posts: 496 Member
    #3
    Make An Appointment NOW
    Please make an appointment ASAP!!! with a colon rectal surgeon. I too am an anal cancer survivor. Cancer does not run in my family but to my shock I was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2008. I had some of the same symptoms as you. I am cancer free now. Early detection is the key for a complete recovery.
  • sephie
    sephie Member Posts: 650 Member
    #4
    yes, go to doctor, now
    go to colorectal surgeon ASAP. i did not want to make a big deal out of what I was feeling, also , but i did go to a proctologist thinking that I had a hemmorrhoid. he did anoscopes multiple times and could not find anything.even did a colonoscopy and lots of digital exams. i kept going to him for 9 horrible months because was embarrased to go to someone else and did not want to be a hypochondriac--- so i just kept dealing with it. I Finally got smart and went to a colorectal surgeon in another town and he immediately suggested biopsy. and there it was -----anal cancer. go to as many doctors as you need to . i will NEVER do what I did again. i could have caught it in earlier stage. hugs sephie
  • Captain11
    Captain11 Member Posts: 88
    #5
    Please go to a doctor ASAP.
    Please go to a doctor ASAP. I had no symptoms, no pain, no wheight loss, and no risk factors for any type of cancer... except maybe hemorhoids, which I have had carefully checked every year. My job prior to the cancer consisted of lots of driving. I kept thinking I was pinching a nerve in my leg from the way I was sitting. My leg kept "freezing" and would feel like it was falling asleep. My primary care doctor gave me some back exercises to do which helped. Over the course of several years, my hemorhoids would come back, and sometimes they would bleed. I had that checked out and was prescribed anusol one year and proctosol the next. This also helped. Like I said I had no symptoms, until one night in May 2009, I started hemorhaging blood out my butt. I thought I was having diarhea, but it was multiple bouts of blood. I went to the emergency room, where after several hours of prep for a CAT scan and a digital rectal exam, a mass was discovered. Turns out, after getting scheduled for a colonoscopy I was diagnosed with stage 3B anal cancer. The mass was in the little section between the cervix and the rectum..(I think that is the space us women have which is used during childbirth). Had I not started bleeding, I wouldn't be here now. Oddly enough, I was not due for a colonoscopy for another 2 years. Your situation sounds like if you have a tumor, it is in the same spot as mine. I pray that you are okay. But, please, get to a specialist.
  • netkickin
    netkickin Member Posts: 8
    #6
    Go to the doctor ASAP
    I went to the doctor thinking it was my hemorrhoids also. She sent me to a colon/ rectal specialist for hemorrhoids surgery and that is when he found I had anal cancer.
    I didn't have signs of anal cancer either. All I had was signs of hemorrhoids or fissure. The doctor did a biopsy and found a mass. I was in stage 1. So please go and get checked out.
  • Angela_K
    Angela_K Member Posts: 374 Member
    #7
    sephie said:

    yes, go to doctor, now
    go to colorectal surgeon ASAP. i did not want to make a big deal out of what I was feeling, also , but i did go to a proctologist thinking that I had a hemmorrhoid. he did anoscopes multiple times and could not find anything.even did a colonoscopy and lots of digital exams. i kept going to him for 9 horrible months because was embarrased to go to someone else and did not want to be a hypochondriac--- so i just kept dealing with it. I Finally got smart and went to a colorectal surgeon in another town and he immediately suggested biopsy. and there it was -----anal cancer. go to as many doctors as you need to . i will NEVER do what I did again. i could have caught it in earlier stage. hugs sephie

    Agreed!
    Agree with every word!
  • Angela_K
    Angela_K Member Posts: 374 Member
    #8
    Agreed ~ Do not wait!
    Don't you dare put this off. The not knowing was terrifying for me . . .but still I tried to convince myself I only had hemorrhoids and almost a year later a rather large mass was discovered. I was misdiagnosed by local doctors and diagnosed correctly almost a month later at a larger facility with a team of reputable gastroenterology oncology doctors.

    Please know that we are here for support should you need it in the future.
    Blessings to you.

    Angela
  • sissy310
    sissy310 Member Posts: 300
    #9
    Angela_K said:

    Agreed ~ Do not wait!
    Don't you dare put this off. The not knowing was terrifying for me . . .but still I tried to convince myself I only had hemorrhoids and almost a year later a rather large mass was discovered. I was misdiagnosed by local doctors and diagnosed correctly almost a month later at a larger facility with a team of reputable gastroenterology oncology doctors.

    Please know that we are here for support should you need it in the future.
    Blessings to you.

    Angela

    I am adding my couple of
    I am adding my couple of pennies: I so agree...go see a specialist now. Don't wait.

    Do not think you are making too much of this. I listened to my general practitioner and he kept telling me I had hemi's even when I kept thinking, no this has to be more. Well I waited a year before I started yelping about it and yes, I did have hemi's, but that wasn't all I had. Lots of bleeding, pain in the area, feeling of fullness, etc. In retrospect I wish I had not hesitated and followed my instincts and just went to a colo-rectal guy to begin with so that is why I'm saying, along with everyone else, go see a specialist and be taken care of immediately. Then let us know what is going on and know that we are here for support and help should you need it. Marilyne
  • alis7910
    alis7910 Member Posts: 80
    #10
    Not sure etc.
    Hi:
    Go see a specialist ASAP- you need a diagnosis; your body NEVER lies.I had no symptoms, other than hemmorhoids. I had a colonoscopy, which I had been putting off for years, and got diagnosed with stage 1.Best wishes to you and let us know the results.
    Hugs
    Alis
  • alis7910
    alis7910 Member Posts: 80
    #11
    Not sure etc.
    Hi:
    Go see a specialist ASAP- you need a diagnosis; your body NEVER lies.I had no symptoms, other than hemmorhoids. I had a colonoscopy, which I had been putting off for years, and got diagnosed with stage 1.Best wishes to you and let us know the results.
    Hugs
    Alis
  • gratefulmom
    gratefulmom Member Posts: 15
    #12
    alis7910 said:

    Not sure etc.
    Hi:
    Go see a specialist ASAP- you need a diagnosis; your body NEVER lies.I had no symptoms, other than hemmorhoids. I had a colonoscopy, which I had been putting off for years, and got diagnosed with stage 1.Best wishes to you and let us know the results.
    Hugs
    Alis

    Not sure ?
    I too, had no symptoms other than hemis, until a large golfball size lymph node showed up in my groin. That of course made me a stage 3B. my doctor said it had probably been ther for more than 2 years. My husband of 26 years had just died the year before with lung cancer,so maybe I just didn't notice any changes,I now pay much more attention to my body and will not ignore it again.

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