Having read a post earlier, I thought it might be an interesting idea to collect & amass everyone's symptoms of bowel cancer, prior to their diagnosis. It seems to me, (when reading here,) that symptoms vary such a lot, particularly in regard to the specific site in the bowel. I am not sure whether this post has any purpose, but, it might be interesting for someone to collect all the data of personal experiences; yet also, reactions of GPs - when you first presented with symptoms. Yet also, it might help those that might be worrying about the possibility of whether they have bowel cancer.
& so, I'll start with mine:
My symptoms started in summer of 2018. At first, they were very vague - just a dull ache in a certain place in my lower left abdomen. At this stage, it was bothersome, but not enough for me to visit my GP. Soon after, I found I needed to dash to the loo with diarrhoea, then I had occasional bad stomach cramps & nausea. I then found I needed to lie down after eating lunch - & had extremely loud gurgling noises in my stomach - & I would massage my stomach, thinking it was just bad wind - & my thoughts were that I had IBS. A good friend asked me if I was losing weight - which I hadn't considered; but yes, I was having to wear a belt to keep up my jeans. Then, checking my weight, it was drastically reducing. The pain in my left side became ever more nagging, & after three visits to the GP, he ordered a Colonoscopy - which diagnosed a 5cm tumour in my descending bowel - which resulted in a left hemicolectomy in May 2019.
I knew that there was something wrong, but I had convinced myself that I had IBS. I never thought about bowel cancer at that time - probably because it was too frightening to consider.
On reflection, I am pleased with how my GP reacted to my symptoms, but that could be because of my age.
Marianne
