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Bowel/Colon cancer symptoms

Neathboy99
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I have all the symptoms apart from weight loss, I am scared out of my mind, there is a family history of this type of cancer, Uncle and Cousin from either side of parentage, I also have mental health issues which are preventing me from going to my doctor for a diagnosis, my mind is saying if it is I don't want to know because I don't want the treatment to affect my way of life and I don't want to tell my wife and children as it will affect their lives, I recently had a BCC removed from my shoulder and they were bad enough then.

Please help !!

  • Hi Neathboy99

    Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to our online community. My name is Sherrye and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

    I’m sorry to hear your experiencing possible cancer symptoms and understandably are feeling scared. I’m glad you’ve felt able to reach out to Macmillan for support.

    There are many different emotions you may be experiencing right now and that’s ok, there’s no right or wrong way to feel.

    At Macmillan Cancer Support with any new, changing, or worsening symptom we always recommend reporting this to your GP for assessment and support.

    I understand your mental health is preventing you from doing this but this important to finding out what is going on and getting you the right help. Especially as you’ve said there is a family history of bowel cancer, the earlier a cancer is diagnosed the more treatable it may be.

    You could start by sharing the situation with your wife then she could go with you to the GP for extra support, they could also arrange for you to have a FIT test. There could be many other non-cancer reasons for your symptoms.

    If you already have access to a mental health practitioner you can always talk to them about your symptoms and they can also support you with reporting things to your GP.

    If you feel it would be helpful to talk to us please don’t hesitate to call the Macmillan Support Line as we are always happy to talk.

    I hope this information helps. Please feel free to get back in touch if you want more information or support.

    Best wishes,

    Sherrye H,

    Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

    You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm), send us an email or contact us through webchat.

    Ref SH/AP

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