Please tell me i am too young...

Nicole,
Try to stay calm. I know it's tough, but right now, worrying will not get you anything - but sick. Wait until you know for sure what the situation is, then plan accordingly.

No, you are not too young to have colon cancer. My best friend was diagnosed last year (2002) with stage III colon cancer at age 26. It's rare, but it can happen.

You don't know if it's cancer. It may just be a mass. And, you don't know (if it is colon cancedr) the stage. Colon cancer is very curable when detected early.

Good luck and keep us posted. We'll be praying for you.

Todd

Nicole,
My friend is doing well. He had surgery on February 13, 2002 and had chemo from June through October. Now he's back to work full time and busy pursuing the things he's wanted to pursue from the get go. If you want to read his story, go to www.helpalex.net. He documented his experience with cancer. It's very enlightening.

I think you're right on saying you should avoid the internet and quit reading on this. The more you read, the more worked up you can get. Now is the time to take some time for yourself and find something calming. Do something you love and enjoy and don't think about anything else. Join a yoga class, meditate, go for a long walk. Be with friends. Try to not focus on this so much until you know the diagnosis.

Take care,
Todd

Dear M.,
If you have been having trouble for two years, it is very very unlikely that you have cancer.You would have been in serious trouble long ago. It is possible at 21 but very unusual. It sounds more like irritable bowel syndrome. what age did your uncle get colon cancer. Nowadays it would be advised to have a check of colon done at 10 years younger than the youngest sufferer in the family history. Could I suggest that you phone your doctor and tell him/her your worries. He should have a good idea what the problem is likely to be. Blessings - and let us all know how you make out. I think it will be O.K.
V.C.

Hi Nicole,
I went through the same problem that you are going through January of last year and mine got to the point that I quit eating all together because I felt that if I didn't eat then I wouldn't hurt. I had bleeding and problems having bowel movements,too. I am not a doctor but you have the same symptoms as I did and they found a golf ball size tumor imbedded in my rectal walls. It was stage 3 rectal cancer. I was 36 years old and like you I was scared and thought that I was too young. Believe me when I say that you did the right thing by going to your dr. I hope that everything will be ok. Maybe if it is this, than they caught it on time and anything won't happen to you? I won't scare anymore than you already are by telling you what I went through until you are ready to hear it,ok? But I am here for you if you need me,ok? Good luck and best wishes;hope to hear from you soon. Let me know how it goes,ok?
Michele:)

MNichole,

I'm 34 and was diagnosed about 3 years ago.

First. As far waiting - DON'T! Let your Dr. know about your uncle if he doesn't already know and also find out from your family if anyone else died of colon cancer or had colon polyps and let the Dr. know that as well.

Second, it is gonna sound stupid but Relax. Right now there's not enough evidence to support a diagnosis of cancer but there is a lot of evidence to suspect something is wrong and one of the things it could be is cancer.

Third, I'd love to say no that you're too young but - you're not. Especially since you have an uncle who had colon cancer. It sounds very much like you are at least a possible candidate for something called Lynch's Syndrome which basically means you and your family members may be more suseptable to colon cancer and at a much earlier age than normal.

Basically, what you want to do is call your Dr. and schedule for a colonoscopy as soon as possible. This is a procedure where they will put a camera - basically - where no camera should ever have to go, but which will allow the Dr's to completely inspect your colon. A sigmoidoscopy only goes about 1/3 of the way through your colon and can be more or less useless unless a tumor is close to your sphincter, don't get a sigmoidoscopy.

One way or another, after your colonoscopy you will know and the Dr's will move appropriately.

Oh, and unless my Dr was very wrong you can also have hemmoroids internally. I found this out when I started daily exersize after my surgery and chemotherapy and started getting blood in my stool - again - needless to say I was - not happy. I was riding the stationary bikes at my local gym as part of my regimine and noticed bright red blood in/with my stools and some minor pain as well. I called my gastro-enterologist - and before I was on the phone 30 seconds he told me a little known- seldom mentioned item - it's ok you have "internal" hemmoroids - and while that might be a problem for some people, I'm sure everyone in this forum would much rather have had that diagnosis - So as much as I hate to say it - cheer up - it could be hemoroids.

Understand one thing here Nichole as it bears repeating, While everyone here is going to be as supportive as possible, I think we'd all agree on one thing, if it is cancer, time is not your ally and you need to move as quickly through the paperwork and the testing if that means a day away from school or work - make it happen.

General practice Dr's have a very hard time diagnosing everything that comes their way and sometimes won't expect to find serious problem with someone your age so you may wish to consider a second opinion as well.

Due to my age - 31 at the time, One Dr. had told me I had a "lettuce alergy" - I swear that was the answer he gave me for almost a year and then I had a bowel movement which looked more like a bad period and for a guy in his early thirties, I was uncomfortable with that to say the very least - I asked for a new doctor to look at my history and I went through the tests for 4 months and when I finally had my surgery my surgeon and the pathologist commented that had it been another 2 or 3 weeks it would have been much worse for me so having dodged more "bullets" then I care to think about I cannot really stress the need to insist and ask questions and educate yourself, I also tend to agree with some of the other contributors that your Dr. appears to be foot draging though.

Good luck,

Joe G.

i read your post and i hope that you are doing better. i am 28 yrs old and was diagnosed the first time with stage 4 colon cancer almost five years ago, just after my 23rd birthday, so i know exactly what you are going through. in fact the scenario sounds errily familiar. the damn thing came back a second time and after a few surgeries a whole lot of chemo/radiation it has been gone now for almost three years and i am about to celebrate my first child's 1 year birthday. i pray that you don't have this disease but if you find out that you do, you should know that you will have the support you need to beat this thing. take care of yourself.

livin said:

Nicole, Please keep us posted on your condition. I hope your results are Negative for Colon Cancer.

Ok, I'm anxious to find out...has anyone heard from Nicole regarding her testing? I think we were all left hanging...hopefully it's because she no longer has anything in common with the "rectal group" and not because anything negative has surfaced.