Found possible blood in stool, afraid of colorectal cancer at 17! Is this worth checking out?

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So today I had a bowel movement and saw a couple small light red patches on it. The stool was thinner than normal, but wasn't pencil-thin as the typical symptoms would describe. I'm only seventeen years old, so the chances of me having bowel cancer should be relatively slim. Also, I've eaten an increased amount of hot sauce over the past week, so I was wondering if that could have anything to do with it.

In addition to the bit of red I saw in the stool, I've been having increased abdominal pain for a few days now. I have been having occasional and mild abdominal pain for a long time, but have never thought much of it because it wasn't severe. It is often located in my right abdomen, but sometimes is more central.

The reason I'm posting this is because my mother won't just let me go to the doctor's office to get tested for cancer, as she sees me as paranoid (which I sort of am, but I think that seeing red in stool warrants checking it out). In addition, I would expect most doctors to simply assume that this is hemorrhoids because of how young I am.

How worried should I be about this? I don't want to needlessly go to the doctor's office, but I also don't want to put off my own health just for my mother's convenience. Finally, is there any way I can determine if this is actually cancer, or just related to the hot sauce I've eaten, or if it's something less serious like hemorrhoids.

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3 Replies

  • Posted

    Joshua you are right from what I've read about colon cancer but you sound really worried so in your circumstance go to the doctor and get it checked out for your own piece of mind

  • Posted

    All blood is worth visiting a doctor about.  Don’t worry about what Mom thinks.

    Watch it for a few days.  Was t a single occurrence?  Has it gone away?  If it hasn’t in a few days get into see a doctor.  The presence of ab pain could be anything as well.  Perhaps you have some foods which are aggravating your bowel.  Please don’t go to the worse ever case - Cancer.  You are young and healthy and that would be very unlikely. However always be dialed into your body and if you feel like a visit to the doctor then go.  Visiting the doc will never be regretted.

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