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Help me I'm so worried I have colon cancer....

Posted , 5 users are following.

harrison31704
harrison31704

I am a 16 year old male with no family history of any cancer. For just over a week I had had lower left and right abdominal pain and it sometimes aches my hip area. I have had diharria once and also had thinner poo once. Please help and could this be something besides cancer?

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • shazsilverwolf
    shazsilverwolf harrison31704

    Posted

    Hi Harrison31704. Right, for starters, I have no medical qualifications, so to be honest, the best advice that I can give is, if you haven't already been to your doctor, go now. Pick up the phone for an appointment right now.No matter what any of us say on here, you need a doc to get to whatever the problem is. I will say that I think it would be highly unlikely to be cancer, your age is against that. From what you are describing, it sounds like it could be some sort of gastro/stomach bug.This is one of those things where the symptoms could be any of a dozen things, and only a doc can tell what they mean.
  • anthony10484
    anthony10484 harrison31704

    Posted

    There are many things it could be, only tests organised by your doctor will sort it out.  The important thing is to sort it out rapidly, the sooner problems are diagnosed and treated the better.  Perhaps the most important advice, other than to see your doctor, is not to panic.  Whatever the problem, including cancer, treatments these days are very effective especially for someone as young as yourself - but, I repeat, the chances improve very rapidly with an early diagnosis.  When you see your doctor do not accept comments such a 'you are too young for this or that problem', make sure that he gives you all the necessary tests - the usual starter for bowel cancer is a blood test for CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) levels.

    To give you a little comfort, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 77 and I am still here and thriving a couple of years later!

    • harrison31704
      harrison31704 anthony10484

      Posted

      What are the chances of a 16 year old with no family history of any cancer to get colon cancer?
    • anthony10484
      anthony10484 harrison31704

      Posted

      The probability of a 16 year old getting bowel cancer is certainly much lower than for my age group, quite what the figure is, though, I do not know.  One of the problems of it being a low probability is that it is all too easy for GPs to discount it.  If you do have concerns then it is certainly best to press for an appropriate test to be carried out, just to be on the safe side and, hopefully, to put your mind at rest.

      It could be IBS amongst many other things from coeliac disease to a simple stomach bug.  Self diagnosing, especially from information on the web, is not usually a good idea - it is all too easy to come to the conclusion that you have just about every disease going!  The only safe solution is to visit a doctor and keep pressing until you are satisfied that you have the right diagnosis and, as I said in my previous post, the sooner you do this the better the outcome.

  • TheToad
    TheToad harrison31704

    Posted

    All of these replies so far are spot on. Have some tests and stop looking things up on the Internet! I scared myself silly because of that. 
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