Scared to death I have bowel cancer - 24 yo male

Hello guys, I have occasional intermittent back passage bleeding for 3 months. I also have constant stomach growling sounds, whether I'm hungry or not. I'm having intermittent soft flat stools, very foul-smelling but it usually goes back to normal after 2-3 days. I have recurrent anal itching and pain that often gets worse when walking for a long distance.

I first went to my GP 3 months ago, he performed a DRE which showed nothing except an "anal congestion" not sure if it means hemorrhoids or not... Anyway, my GP gave me some cream and stool softeners which indeed helped with the pain but not with the bleeding. The bleeding is typically bright red and seen on the toilet paper.

For the past 3 months, I had bleeding 3-4 times.

As the bleeding did not stop, I went back to my GP. He said there's no need to worry but in order to ease my mind, he referred me to a GI surgeon to check for hemorrhoids and give me treatment. Before going to the surgeon, he asked me to perform three FIT tests and blood tests. FIT tests came back negative and blood tests were perfect.

So about a month ago I paid a visit to the GI and he did not perform any DRE. He performed a really quick thirty seconds anoscopy which, in his own words "doesn't show much". That's where I started to be really scared, I really thought that my condition was benign and it was strictly a hemorrhoids condition. I don't really understand, because the anoscopy was extremely painful on the left side of my anus and when the GI touched the left part it was ultra painful. Then going to toilets after the anoscopy, I have blood on TP without having a bowel movement. So, I really thought for a minute that he identified the bleeding source. He said it wasn't so clear for him and I should come back if the bleeding comes back. But he wasn't really concerned as three FIT tests came back negative.

I was so scared that I took a picture of my own anus (which I'm a bit ashamed of), but anyway, here's what it looks like:

I mean, doesn't this looks like hemorrhoids to you ? I don't understand my GI ... It blue/purple lumps which are painful, isn't it the definition of hemorrhoids ?!

I'm planning to go back to my GP on Thursday so that he can refer me again to another GI, and maybe plan a sigmoidoscopy / colonoscopy to know what's really causing the bleeding...

Meanwhile, I'm just scared to death it's bowel cancer, I can barely go to work. Every time I go back home, I just lay on the couch crying thinking about cancer and death ...

I know Dr. Google is not your best friend as it can scares you but on the other hand, without Google I wouldn't have been to the GP, thinking it was just hemorrhoids and not really paying attention to it. But now that I've read that it could be cancer, I'm just petrified...

What do you guys think ? Does the picture suggest hemorrhoids ? I mean, the GI says he did not see anything but come on, just have a look at my anus, you can see blue / purple lumps around it. I most of the time have trust in doctors but here, I don't understand...

Any thoughts / opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for my English, I'm a non-native

0 likes, 26 replies