Worried about family history of bowel cancer.

[SamanthaAU]

I was just reading something on another forum I am on ( nothing to do with anxiety etc) and came across a woman writing about how she thought she may have had bowel cancer.

Well, of course that has set me off! My dad had bowel cancer ( and thank goodness survived) about 35-40 years ago.

I am sure most of you know that having such a close relative had it makes my chances of getting it increased.

So I have had a pain in the gut now for the last few hours and have convinced myself I have bowel cancer. My doctor doesn't come back until 11th January so I have to stew over this all by myself.

Why is life so unfair to us and make us suffer unnecessary like this. I am young, 31 and have 3 beautiful children and a wonderful husband but I just can't stop toturing myself that I am on deaths door.:weep:

[BornWorrier]

Hi Samantha,

Tummy ache is NOT generally the first symptom of bowel cancer, believe it or not. I won't say what is (cos I just know you're gonna start to have that symptom!!!), but if BC was advanced enough to cause pain in the tummy, you'd have seen other, hard to miss symptoms by now.

You're right - having a close relative who's had it does give you a SLIGHTLY higher risk of getting it yourself. But here's the good news - it's easy to diagnose, and easy to treat.

Doctors now send out these kits to the patients they consider at risk (usually the over 60s), and you send back a sample of poo. Nice, huh? But it means anything sinister can be picked up really, really early and treated. Perhaps you could ask your doctor for the test.

Having said all that, please try not to worry. At 31, your chances of having it, family history or not, are very, very small :)