I have just had a fit test result of 40 and my Dr is sending me for a colonoscopy....I'm am and have been anemic for many years on and off, and also my dad dies at 54 of bowel cancer and my grandad 81 of bowel cancer. How worried ahould I be with a score of 40?? I am actually petrified, nit just because of the fear of how probable cancer is with that score,but also as I'm a single parent to 2 young boys aged 12 & 10. Is 40 on a FIT usually bad??
Hello D.m f
Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to the online community. My name is Joanne and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.
It’s always very difficult when you receive a test result that means you are then referred for further tests. Please do consider giving our nurses a call on the support line over the weekend. When you are dealing with a situation like this it can be helpful to have a two-way conversation where you can talk things through in more detail.
A FIT Test (Faecal Immunochemical Test) is used to measure blood in your stools as part of the assessment for the presence of bowel disease.
A positive FIT reading will result in referral for further testing to identify the cause. A FIT test on it’s own is not an indication that you have cancer.
Blood in your stools can be caused by a number of other conditions, including benign polyps, stomach ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease . All of these conditions require further investigation to determine exactly what is causing the bleeding.
A colonoscopy will give the doctors information about what is happening and if the colonoscopy indicates that that your bleeding may be caused by cancer, further tests will be done at that stage.
Waiting for appointments and having cancer tests done can produce an absolute rollercoaster of difficult emotions.
It can be useful to look at ways to help you cope during this uncertain time and it’s important that you reach out for support as you need to.
I hope this information provides you with some reassurance this evening – please do call us if you feel that would be useful and let us know if there is anything else we can support you with.
Regards
JoanneH
JH/KHa
Joanne H - Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
Remember you can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or by email.
