Am I being silly??

Hi , you are very welcome to post on this site and use the Macmillan support line to discuss how your feeling, we often have people visiting here prior to a diagnosis and people celebrating that things weren’t as bad as they had feared. I am assuming of course that as you are here and you say am I being a hypochondriac or does it sound sinister that you are worried you mention a referral to a colorectal surgeon that you think you may have that type of cancer. You are speaking here to patients and carers not medical professionals, and I have no personal experience that might help but I’m going to tag another champ into this who might be able to add more into your discussion. 

I am glad you have made another appointment to see your GP as your symptoms are affecting your day to day life even if it is something different. When I was awaiting biopsy results when I knew the hospital suspected cancer, the advice I was given was don’t google, and so I didn’t come to this site until my diagnosis of metastatic melanoma was confirmed. I always try to limit the time I spend on worrying now, but it’s impossible to remove the worries all together. In your shoes I might be trying to get written down what symptoms to discuss with the GP (I’m not sure if it’s the same GP or if you can ask to see someone different) and what your worries are, and as there is a lot of time waiting with uncertainty, finding out how you best cope with it. 

I am hoping that just posting on here has been of some relief getting stuff out of your head, if you want to join and post in a cancer group, I am putting a link in for you to consider, or you might want to talk to the Macmillan Support Line the details are after my signature.

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_types/bowel-colon-rectum-cancer/discussions,

Come back to me if I’ve got anything wrong or if you think I can be of more help by pressing reply.

Best wishes

Hi, I'd like to give you a warm welcome to the online community and I'm sorry that your  circumstances have brought you to our door but I'm very pleased that you felt that you could reach out to us and ask for advice

Like my friend  mentioned we are not medics and can't give you medical advice.

You are very right to be concerned about the lump and the other symptoms you mentioned and I think that to wait for almost 7 months for an appointment is unbelievable and you should certainly "have words" with your GP when you see him this week and get him to phone the colorectal surgeon whilst you are in his surgery to find out when your appointment will be coming through.   

Alternatively find out if your GP can refer you to NHS choose and book and if he can you should get a unique reference number and passcode with a list of hospitals that you can go to, you can then go online and find the earliest appointment and make your own booking, you can also telephone them and give the reference number and passcode and they will tell you the appointments and hospitals available and you decide which one you want and where you want to go. I make most of my new appointments this way and it works and if you phone the staff are very friendly.

The next alternative is if you know the hospital your GP referred you to and speak to the outpatient appointment department and ask if you are on a waiting list and when your appointment will come through, hopefully you will be on a waiting list!

The next option is quite drastic but you could phone the colorectal surgeons secretary and find out if you could go private for the initial appointment and make an appointment (you can come back into the NHS system afterwards) unfortunately it is a paid for appointment but it might be worth paying for peace of mind.

Other options available to you are 1. Going to A&E or 2. Phoning NHS 111 for advice

We have available to you (Missing Group) group page where you could try asking him your questions although it will be difficult for him to give you a diagnosis online but he may have some advice for you on the way forward, if you do ask him the questions please give him two or three days to answer. To access the group page just click on the green text above and this will take you directly to the question page.

I can however answer some of your questions

Are you being silly 

Are you being a fraud

Are you a hypochondriac 

And my answer is very simply NO you are not, you have a medical problem that you need to have sorted out by a specialist doctor and your GP owes it to you to ensure that you get medical attention at the earliest opportunity and this is not happening so drastic action needs to be taken by yourself.

I see that you are member of the Anal cancer forum group and would invite you to introduce yourself to the members of the group and I'm sure that my friends  and Nikki65 will give you a welcome into group and be available to you to give you advice and have a chat with you when you need it.

I'm sorry that I haven't been of much help with your problem but I hope that you will get an appointment very soon.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on

Ian

Thankyou both of you! 

I appreciate the time you have taken to read my information and reply to me. 

I feel it's a very long time to wait and my doctor isn't really interested, I obviously would hope and pray it is something very easily treated and not Cancer, but I need to see a professional for this clarification. I will definitely push the doctor for her to either call when Iam there or give me the details. 

This is affecting my daily living Aswel as my mental health. 

Iam not sure about the choose and book service as I've never heard of this, but something I will now explore. 

Dr Google is awful and not something I want to persue, I just want to help myself feel better and sort the issue. I shall refrain from us this now though as I understand it can be scary.  I will come on after the doctor appointment on Thursday with an update and possible advice. 

Once again, thankyou for your kindness

Hi you are very welcome you are now part of the Mac family and you can rely on our help, support and advice anytime you need it 

To put your mind at rest in some of the groups that I am member of we believe "That there is no such thing as stupid question, Except the one never asked" if you've got something niggling you don't hesitate come on here and ask it, there is a good chance that one of the members will have some knowledge about it and share their experiences with you.

Its better to ask here rather that see the horrific misleading information on Dr Google and the information you'll get from the members will be up to date.

Choose and Book

This LEAFLET explains what it is and how it works. To give you some information I received a choose and book referral from my GP last week for a new clinic appointment, when I went on line and entered my details I was presented with a list of appointments that were available to me with dates and times and I was able to make an appointment on the date and time that suited me, I was online for less than 5 minutes and could print out the details of the appointment with notes on how to get to the clinic and details about the hospital, it's so easy hopefully your GP will be able to give you the choice.

Don't hesitate to come back on here at anytime we really are here for each other.

Good luck with the GP and remember it is your right to speak to another GP in the practice if you want to.

Ian

By clicking on the green text above will open up a new page for you.

Your symptoms sound familiar to how I started May 2018.  I had an urgency to go 5, 6, 7 or more times a day.  I was dealing with diarrhea and it would not seem to go away no matter how much toast, bananas or chicken noodle soup I consumed.  And of course that much diarrhea turned into hemorrhoids so I bought every hemorrhoid OTC medicine ever invented.  I had just moved, started a new job, buying a new house, selling a house, moving my children to a new school so I assumed this was just STRESS.  I was new in town so I did not have a GP.  After putting it off for a few months and just living painfully with the symptoms I finally found a GP.  She listened to me an knew a 49 year old healthy woman should not be having the symptoms that I was having.  She ordered blood work, stool samples, CT Scan, and colonoscopy.  Every single one of those tests came back normal even the CT Scan but the colonoscopy showed a small spot the size of a quarter.  I was diagnosed with stage 3A anal cancer.  I did chemo and radiation treatments August - September 2018.  I am eleven months cancer free.  Keep pushing your GP for answers.  You should not be having the symptoms you have.  I have found through this process you have to advocate for yourself.  For example, my CT Scan never showed cancer but a PETScan did.  Once my treatments were done, the radiation oncologist wanted me to have another PET scan to verify the cancer was truly gone but Mr. Insurance company said no, I could only have a CT Scan.  It took a lot of back and forth with the insurance company of getting denied and getting my doctor to escalate my case and do consultations with the insurance company doctors before I got my PET scan to verify my cancer was indeed gone.  Let us know how your appointment goes.

Hi, thankyou very much for the lovely reply! 

Iam actually quite shocked that you said my symptoms were similar to yourself and you got diagnosed with cancer. It makes me think that it's definitely a possibility. 

Iam very happy for you that your now cancer free and hopey feeling much better and less stressed with your busy life. 

Iam sorry to hear you got messed about so much, that's the last thing anyone needs in these situations. .I will most definitely post an update to what my GP says on Thursday. 

Kind regards x

Thankyou Ian, you have been a great fountain of knowledge for me and made me feel at ease. 

I clicked the link and have saved it to show the doctor and try get further via this route. It seems ideal for me especially meaning I could choose appointments around my job, school run etc... 

See what happens when you reach out and speak to others. Lovely people like yourself share your information to make life that bit easier.

I hate confrontation or speaking out so I would feel uncomfortable asking for a second opinion from another doctor in the surgery, but for the sake of my mental health Aswel as physical issues I shall be taking this route. I feel totally fobbed off now and believe they have left me too long with my symptoms. It's always the same " your too young for it to be sinister" but that's a lot of rubbish. Cancer doesn't care what age anyone is so I believe I need to know. 

Once again, I appreciate your advice and kindness 

So...... I went to see my doctor today

Had an examination to show her the " lump" has gotten worse she agreed. I also wrote down a list of symptoms and problems this is causing me. As I tend to forget and develop white coat syndrome, she kept my list! 

I asked about my referral taking 9months come sept which is totally unacceptable. She looked on my file and apparently I was written to in May to ask if I still needed the appointment. 

I don't believe this as 1. I've never heard of this before and 2. I didn't receive and letter

She asked me to call the outpatient department to ask if I was on the list and when me appointment would likely be, if they didn't know a date( timeframe) or if I wasn't on the list I was to call her back and she would do a 2 week referral. 

Called the records dept to be told they had to go and speak with coordinator... Eventually came back and said an appointment would be out in next couple of weeks. 

I have a sneaky suspicion I've been totally forgotten about and will be fast tracked now due to a mess up. 

So I do feel a bit of relief that I will be seen sooner rather than later, I feel annoyed with myself for not going back earlier. 

I've been battling necrotising fasciatis  for the past 4 months so had other priorities. 

Will post when I know more.

Thankyou for reading

Hi ,

Apologies I’ve just seen your post & I’m so sorry you’re going through all of this right now!  To answer your question no I don’t think you’re being a hypochondriac at all, expecting some answers as to what’s going on having been experiencing symptoms for 2 years certainly IS NOT unreasonable. I’m a community champion on the General Discussion group so pop on over there & you’ll get the support you need & lots of friendly advice I’m sure (we’re a lovely supportive bunch). Be insistent with your Doctor, when I visited my GP with far less symptoms than yourself I might add, she didn’t hesitate at putting me on the 2 week pathway just in case there was anything sinister going on & I’ll be eternally grateful for her for that as my diagnosis was picked up early because of her vigilance. 

Nicola

Hiya Nicola

Sorry just replying. Been at work today... And oh jeez, what a day it's been. I've had the worset stomach pain, diarrhea and bloating. 

Currently sitting with a hot water bottle across my lower stomach I could cry. 

No idea what's going on, is this stress induced or another symptom? 

I will pop over to the other site and try find my feet. Forums are new to me  

Your GP sounds ideal. Wish mine had been. I am genuinely suffering and feeling pretty rotten, it's also quite private so can't express my issues openly. 

See u on the other page Nicola x