Scared about bowel cancer, please help :( 15yrs

Posted , 2 users are following.

Hi everyone, 

I'm a 15 year old female with no health problems, relatively healthy eating and exercise usually, don't smoke or drink. I've also posted in a couple of other forums.

So a couple of months ago, I began to feel ill to the point where I had to sit down and later on that night I threw up around 3 times and had a little bit of diarrhoea. The next few days I still had this stomach ache and eventually went to the GP where I met with an advanced nurse practicioner, did a quick urine sample and was told I had a UTI then was sent home with some tablets (can't remember what they were called) which I had to take for 3 days. I took them for 3 days as stated and no signs of improvement. All while this was going on, I lessened what I was eating due to a loss of appetite so thats what I'm presuming was causing my constipation. Got booked another doctor's appointment, this time with an official GP (not knocking the nurse of course) and waited a good 17 days or so for my appointment. During the waiting time, I was having a whole range of symptoms which was pains just generally anywhere (put down to anxiety as I suffer extremely badly with health anxiety, which of course doesn't ever help!), stomach aches which were made better with food and just a fluxuation between constipation and looser stools, never properly diarrhea though. I found a small amount of blood, less than enough to cover a fingernail and it was bright red and obviously I panicked and told my dad who told me it was probably due to all the straining I was doing. I brushed this off as hemorrhoids and went to the doctor's appointment that finally arrived! So I told the doctor all the problems I'd been having and she put it down to an inflammation in my stomach due to my ongoing use of nurofen/ibuprofen for my terrible period pains and due to braces pain as well. She gave me omeprazole and said I could have a blood test as well so I agreed just to be on the safer side. Right now, I've just finished the four week course of omeprazole and I am feeling a lot better however my bowels are still all over the place. For example, one day I had a large orange ish coloured stool (which I read can be caused by antacids so I accepted this) and then another day it was slightly darker brown constipation. More recently, yesterday I was constipated and went twice in the day but however today (which has caused me significant worry) I had looser stools which were easy to pass so I'm not quite sure if they were normal or loose as they did keep their form but one "part" had a smear of blood on it! This has been the first time in ages so I will keep an eye on it because I have been straining a lot recently. I have been crying a lot because I am just so terrified as I've never been "unwell" for months and the blood has completely just knocked any resistance to the anxiety I was having. As well as this, I've been having quite a bit of wind, excessive stomach growling and I passed clear mucus from my bottom. Also, before having a bowel movement in the mornings I get a really nauseous feeling in my stomach that usually passes after I've gone. Despite previously feeling better after food, now usually if I eat something particularly "fatty" like I had takeaway pizza a few nights ago, I feel so ill and bloated.

Obviously, you never truly have something until you're diagnosed but honestly I'm terrified that I have bowel cancer. Now I know I'm young and I don't have a history of it (to my knowledge) but can anyone give me some peace of mind about what this sounds like? I've been trying to tell myself that I've probably gotten IBS due to the stomach inflammation and my stress triggering it. Furthermore, I think my nan might of had something wrong with her gut as I remember distinctly asking why she couldn't have something and she said she couldn't eat certain foods and she drank probiotics daily. I also remember my mum having troubles with bowel movements etc. Now obviously, that's not very useful as it could just be a food intolerance but any info helps I suppose. My mum passed away from heart complications in late April which has just inflated my anxiety about my heart and just my general health (like the symptoms I've been having)as she was only 46, 47 in May. Any help or advice would be appreciated (other than my dad being typical and saying just ignore it) and I wish you all well.

EDIT: the blood test was taken on the 30th July and it has been almost a month and I still haven't received the results. Me and my dad are going to the doctor's on Wednesday morning to ask about these results as it's been a while and I'll update this post after I've received the results. It was tests like CBC, liver function, kidney function etc

0 likes, 1 reply

1 Reply

  • Posted

    Good Morning sweetie!  First, I want to say I’m so very sorry to hear about the loss of your mother! I wish I could give you a big hug! I definitely wouldn’t wait or ignore this! I have been very bad sick as well. For quite some time. With extremely similar symptoms! I’m not a dr and of course would never ever try to diagnose anyone. But, please please please, ask for a referral to a GI dr. Or ask your doctor tomorrow if they can do stool sample testing for your sickness. Ask them for stool culture, c diff testing & a test called Ova & Parasites. My regular dr suggested I needed mental health. My tummy ache was so bad I was crying and so desperate for help. She pretty much dismissed me. I ended up in the ER the next day or the day after. This was last week. They did the routine blood work you spoke of having. And it all came back normal. But, the ER dr gave me a referral to a Gastro Intestinal dr. I went to him Monday. He ordered the stool cultures and a scope to look inside my tummy. I was diagnosed with C Diff yesterday. The pain has been so bad I have felt like I am not going to make it out of this. I was just thinking it was anxiety. But, when my anxiety medicine wasn’t working. I knew it was something else. I just couldn’t get a dr to figure it out til the GI dr! I have very high anxiety as well. But my anxiety medicine always helps me. So I knew something was really wrong when it wasn’t working. I would go from solid stools to complete diarrhea. To the point I have went in my pants 2 different times UGH! If your dr will not do these tests. Please ask for the GI referral ?? Hugs to you dear! I’m so sorry you are going thru so much 

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.