Worried again

Hi  Sarah80 

My main symptom was a lump which was misdiagnosed to start with. Once I had a diagnosis I could check a lot of other symptom boxes, blood on wiping, itchy bum, bowel habits different, tired, but these were all occasionally and I could put them to something else. Xx

Hi Sarah,

I had only one real symptom - a very sore bottom. I thought I had some sort of anal fissure, but when I saw the colorectal surgeon he knew immediately by the position and severity of where I felt the pain, and told me of his suspicions. It was confirmed by colonoscopy a few days later. 

My stools were a bit narrow, but I had no diarrhoea or other digestive issues. Other than the sore bottom, I felt absolutely fine.

I hope you get your symptoms sorted out and ease your mind a bit. x

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Hope you are doing well now.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I hope you are doing well now.

My symptom was a lump on inside of my anal canal which has eventually grown on outside of anus and apart from a little smear of blood occasionally when wiping and an itch I had no other symptoms. Had slight discomfort but not enough to be needing pain killers or even causing concern at the time 

Hello Sarah80

I can understand your concerns, particularly as they found low-grade changes.  The advice we always give on here is to keep pushing, either through the department that treated you before or return to you GP and tell him you are still very worried.  My skinny poos were caused by my tumour.  Also a FIT test isn't always conclusive.

It may be that you have definitely have something but that is entirely unrelated to cancer, my daughter has IBS and has a lot of symptoms that you describe.  It must be really unsettling for you and I hope you get a bit further on in investigations, please let us know how you get on.

Irene xx  

Hi Sarah,

As Irene said, your symptoms could very well be unrelated to cancer... however, you really do have to advocate for yourself and push for testing to be sure. I was misdiagnosed with internal hemorrhoids for over 2 years! After much back and forth to the GP, I eventually had a colonoscopy which revealed a stage 3 tumour. During this time, I had FIT tests and blood tests for cancer markers - neither of these came back with any cause for concern. 

I had pain that progressively got worse over time. I also had some blood, but not all the time. I also had skinny bowel movements that were caused by the positioning of the tumour... and terrible fatigue. 

Good luck going forward. Don't allow yourself to be fobbed off! Unfortunately, doctors aren't always right and as this form of cancer is relatively rare, it's often not a consideration. That said, try not to worry yourself too much. You just need answers and to be taken seriously. 

Jenna xx

Thank you Irene, I will keep pushing 

Thanks Ian

Thank you Jen, I will keep pushing