Pancreatic cancer/bowel cancer scare

[leafie]

Here I am again with another fear. I've had mild nausea for a month but it's kind of good now. The problem is, I'm also constipated, well kind of. I was taking medication and the side effect was constipation but I'm off the medication for about 2-3 weeks now. I've had hard dry stools but no abdomen pain. I ate a lot of tomatoes on Tuesday and on Wendesday I had to go to the bathroom 3 times but it wasn't diarrhea. It was just regular poop. Also, no weird color but I noticed a bit of white mucus last week but that has seem to gone away now. Now I'm scared because I've read that sign of pancreatic cancer is weight loss and pain in the stomach or back. I've had mild lower back pain on the left side for 3 days now, but it's closer to my bottom than my back if you can understand. I've been sitting basically whole day on Wednesday. Do you think it could be because of that? About the weight loss, I don't weight myself at all. Last time I did was probably in September. Today I went right ahead and I'm 7 kg lighter. Is that normal? Although I've been skinny my whole life I didn't really notice weight loss until I started looking for it . I don't have diarrhea and I think the constipation is getting better. I'm only 17. How likely is it that I have cancer? Also, this week I've had more stress than usual, can that account for something?

[hanshan]

Hi Leafie,

Stress, medication, slight nausea, disturbed digestion - all of those combined can account for the other symptoms. At 17, pancreatic cancer is last on a very long list. You say you don't weigh yourself regularly, which could account for an apparent drop from two isolated measurements. If your weight is normal and you are eating okay you shouldn't worry, but as always, check with your doctor if you are concerned.