Worried about colon cancer

[Tamarachick]

My very best friend has been experiencing very worrying symptoms lately – severely anaemic, has lost half a stone in weight and is tired.

She is in her mid 50s and is generally very healthy and active and lives a healthy life.

Her GP has referred her for pelvic scans, a colonoscopy (under the 2 week pathway) and various blood tests. I’m trying not to freak out, as her friend, I have to be calm and to be here if she needs me of course.

I guess I just am interested to know if anyone has had similar symptoms and it turned out to be nothing serious or do these symptoms always indicate something sinister?

Does she have any other symptoms? My Mum, who was diagnosed with colon cancer, had gastro pains, diarrhoea and the GP felt a tummy lump.

Hopefully under the two week pathway she won't have long to wait for the investigations.

I don’t think she’s had a physical pelvic examination. I’m not sure about other symptoms, although she’s had a stressful time of late.
I’m sorry to hear about your mum ❤️

I've no personal experience from that side, but having worked in endoscopy I will say that we see SO many people on the 2ww pathway with very similar symptoms and no sinister cause. Hope you and your friend are okay. It's a horrible wait to find out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply – it means a lot. Although I am, of course being realistic, I am a terrible pessimist so it’s good to seek out positive stories to balance!

My DH had similar with blood and diarrhoea too and it was inflammatory bowel disease, now completely controlled for many years.

Conversely DF has stage 4 bowel cancer, with no weight loss, blood or anaemia, his main symptom was a sensation of not emptying his bowels completely.

Thank you for sharing your experience – it just goes to show this disease can present in many ways. I’m sorry to hear about your DF ❤️

Thanks, hopefully your investigations will show nothing worrying-but I also want you reassure you that for my dad, who is in his eighties, they're being really proactive and positive with treatment and he's doing very well. The treatment, surgery and survival are all much better than they used to be.

Your friend not your, sorry for the typo.

That’s good to hear - thank you for your reply. I hope he continues to make good progress ❤️

Please try not to panic. There are many conditions which cause similar symptoms- diverticulitis and colitis are often common in women aged 50ish.

Also anaemia can be due to the bowel being inflamed and not absorbing nutrients properly in colitis / Crohn’s / coeliacs etc.

So worried and advice needed please , my husband went hospital last week due to abdominal pain, he had a CT scan blood test and ultrasound all came back normal, anaemia was normal too, but he’s stool test came back positive qfit>400 they have booked him in for a colonoscopy, but I’m so worried, if he had a CT scan and an ultrasound and all was ok would the colonoscopy be ok? Surly CT scan will pick up anything senister?

please give advice
any help

@Tamarachick how's your friend?