Hello,
Just a bit of history. I am 41. My dad died of bowel cancer at 40, his dad died of it in his 50’s. So for that reason I have had quite a few colonoscopies in my life - I think around 5 now.
One in 2018 showed a tiny polyp which was sent off and came back normal, then about a year after that (in 2020) I had blood in poo again so had another colonoscopy, which showed no polyps and all clear ( except for haemorrhoids which probably caused the bleeding). So that was my last one in 2020 which was almost three years ago. They told me my next one should be in 5 years (so 2025), however I am already booked in for another one at the end of the month due to more bleeding!
I’ve had blood in my poo and constipation for many years, both before and after my colonoscopies, and it’s been put down to either haemorrhoids, IBS, food intolerances (wheat sometimes gives me bloating), or medication, so I am used to finding alarming things in my poo, and I often have mucus. However, over the past few weeks there’s been loads of mucus which has been orange, which is not normal for me, and I keep telling myself that it’s just my regular mucus tinged with the colour of poo, however tonight I’ve had a shock - loads of mucus, and a lot of it is orange and reddy brown. It’s definitely blood, and it’s not the fresh type. I’ve never seen anything like this and I’m so upset. What could it be? Could bowel cancer have developed that quickly, in 2.5 years?
I have two little boys and I am so terrified they are going to grow up without a mum like I did without a dad. I know I have a colonoscopy in two weeks and all will be explained, but in the meantime, I am in bits and need some sort of reassurance.
Please help someone!! Could it be something other than bowel cancer?
xxxxxx