Undiagnosed

Hi KR69 and welcome to the group.  The difficulty with symptom checking online is that it will inevitably  include worse case scenarios which more often than not will not apply to you. However, that said I think it's a very sensible idea to get this checked out. Anal itching can be a sign of anal cancer and although diagnosis of this sort of cancer is rare it does need discounting. We have noticed in this group that some doctors are not familiar with the symptoms of anal cancer as it is a fairly rare condition. For that reason, I would specifically tell your doctor that this is what you are concerned about. He/she should carry out a DRE (digital rectal examination) and then refer on from there dependant on those findings. The referral would be made to a colo-rectal specialist. Can I just ask, when you refer to a GI appointment do you mean gastro-intestinal? Are you based in the UK? Bev 

Im in USA. I am going to my gastrointestinal doc; I'm due for a colonoscopy anyhow. I'm sure he'll do a rectal exam that day and go from there. I'm just worried.

Hi KR69 it is a very worrying time for sure. You are doing the right thing getting this checked out. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a benign condition. The time before confirmation of a diagnosis can be the worst time as your mind is running riot. If you can, try and distract yourself with other things as much as possible until your appointment, easier said than done I know.  If you are looking for info online please be aware that some info is outdated and incorrect. Try and stick to reputable websites such as this one, Cancer Research and the Anal Cancer Foundation. I see your appointment is next week which is quite soon but when you're going through something like this getting from hour to hour can be really hard. Please post on here for support whenever you need to.  We all understand what you're going through. Bev