Bowel Cancer Symptoms and Diagnosis

Hi everyone, what an amazing surprise to see all these responses - I'm so grateful to you all, and oddly feel less afraid. Sometimes it just helps to voice your fears to someone who will listen without dismissing you!

I have had way too much time waiting to see someone about this to spend looking on the net, but as has been said, it has equipped me with alot my knowledge and i know what questions to ask now. As far as the wait is concerned, i can see that GP's are constrained by NICE guidelines - in my age group (45) you don't refer someone urgently unless they have been experiencing a change in bowel habits for more than 6 weeks!! However, mine has been going on for about 3 years, and the bloody mucus in stools for about 6 months.  I have had to chase and push all the way along the line to get referred more quickly, and my barium xray has taken 10 weeks to come through. Crazy!

Whatever the outcome of my tests, this has changed my perspective on bowel cancer forever and i won't keep quiet about it to the people i come into contact with. It's too important.

Hi, the tumour was on the right hand side. I asked liver specialist if I would live to see my grandson get married and he asked how old he was. When I said 6 he straight away said NO. Oncologist said anything beyond 5 years will be unusual. He hadn't met me then. I will do all in my power to prove him wrong! - Unless a greater power has other ideas.  

Peter - that's really lucky you had that cover from work. I didn't mean to go off on one but it does make me cross that, in my case at least, the GPs were so quick to write it down as piles/IBS without even checking. I don't usually get angry about it (it's a wasted energy imho) but sometimes I wonder what if.... Mostly I am just relieved that it was eventually caught in time to do something about it.

I am ok now, I think...just coming out of the other side of treatment (chemo, chemoradiotherapy, surgery, ileostomy, more chemo).  It's been a long road but it's my birthday tomorrow (27, yay!) and I am trying to look forward to the rest of my life.

Sarah - my only advice at this point would be, don't read too much on the internet. A little bit of information is useful because it helps you know what questions to ask, but too much is scary (and not always relevant, accurate or helpful). Everyone's experiences are different, everyone's cancer is different and everyone responds to treatment in a different way.

This site is wonderful, but in the beginning all I seemed to find were posts from people who were dying of bowel cancer. I stopped coming on here for a while because it was so distressing. But there are some really positive stories out there too :)

I've a friend on f/b who was here, her story was covered on here a long time back, she is very well, just had anaemia as the only sign of bowel cancer. 

My big brother has had b/c, only found as he lives in the USA and they do routine colonoscopies every 5 years after the age of 55 if you have medical insurance, he was however reluctant and only went when aged 65, he is now 73 and doing well, no chemo or anything needed but he has a semi-colon of course! 

Hi all, definitely understand what you mean about reading too much stuff on the internet. It can feed your fear can't it?

Busy bee, as an active member of a faith filled church I have seen too many people just recently being healed of terminal cancer to disregard what God can do...He is our rock when things are tough and when things are good xx

Hi Sarah, my daughter was diagnoised with bowel cancer at 19, she suffered stomach pains and weight loss,it took 6 months for our gp to refer her for tests he just insisted it was a water infection , her young age shocked everybody even all the hospital staff , she had an op im march and was doing well until a few months ago when she started getting pains again , last week we found out the cancer had spread to her liver and stomach, at 20 years old she is stuggling to cope but they tell us she is a very rare case being so young, i pray she can be treated and would advise anyone who suspects they have bowel cancer insist on a colonoscopy.

jane x

Hi Jane,

I am sorry about your daughter. I thought I was too young to have a bowel cancer before I got on this site and I'm 37...

Did your daughter have scans before the surgery to see if the cancer had spread? Was she offered chemo afterwards? I just assumed that this is a standard treatment. Am I wrong? Can cancer actually spread after the tumour is removed? They must have missed it somehow, no?

Anyway I hope she gets better soon. My thoughts are with you.

Masha

Hi Masha

Yes Becci had a CT scan in march which only showed the tumor in her bowel she had surgery on the 30th of March which we believed to have removed all the cancer, she started with the pain again early August and we kept asking for another scan but they said not to worry, only after a recent blood test which was abnormal they did the scan, we now believe the cancer had spread before the surgery but they tell us a cancer cell will not show up on any scans until it reaches a certain size wheter this is the case i am unsure.

She was already on chemo after the op as added protection and the have now added another chemo as surgery is not possible at the moment, i am not sure whether they have missed Beccis cancer as in such a few short months its this bad , its so hard to keep her strong she seems to have given up so i understand how much you must be worried and i will keep you in my prayers.

i can tell you though they say Beccis case is extremly rare so please try not to worry to much.

take care

jane xx

Hi everybody,  Regarding the issue of age at diagnosis, I am not sure it's any easier to get a referral from some doctors, even if you are in an older age group.  there seems to be a reluctance among some gps to refer to a consultant.  At 58 my husband consulted the gp about rectal bleeding and pain.  He was examined and told it was piles (yes, the famous piles again!).  He was told to go home and take painkillers, which he did.  7 months later he couldn't pass water and was in agony, so they belatedly did an urgent referral, only to find it was advanced colon cancer.  That was in 2006.  In 2008 it had spread to the liver and diagnosed as terminal, so we are really struggling now.   My worry is that so often, a referral seems to be only a later option, when people have struggled on for weeks or months or even years, with no improvement.  If early diagnosis is the best way to beat cancer, it seems terrible that people seem not to be given the option of ruling it out, rather than waiting until all other possibilities have run out and then referring.  It costs people their lives.

Sorry, everyone, that's not very cheerful, but I think it's a valid concern.  In our cases, we didn't know the right things to question.  I wish you all strength and success in your fight.  Lesley

Hi Jane

So sad for your daughter and family. Tell her not to give up. My niece was only 32 when she was diagnosed, and 8 years after surgery and chemo she is fine..Unfortunately we have a family history and what we call the "bad gene" I also have bowel cancer diagnosed in 2008, had surgery and chemo, its back now in lymph and on further chemo, no 9 this week, and after this I will be looking for further treatments, never give up  x

ps I have written to my mp and the Daily Express about this diabolical decision by our government to increase Foreign Aid whilst cancer sufferers are being denied new cancer treatments by NICE. ie Avastin. Everyone on this site should do it. Ensure we have the same choices as the rest of Europe..

Sue