Have I got rectal cancer?

[Toby2000]

Thank you for the replies everyone

I've sorted a few things out over the past few hours

- I'm going to do my A Levels at home through an open college course so I'm more comfortable and won't end up dropping out again

- I'm going to be taking the dog on daily walks

- I'm going to stop eating so much junk / comfort eating like BlueIris said

- I'll probably end up getting a job too but my mum said I can take things one step at a time

[pulisa]

This all sounds very positive, Toby. You need a routine to give structure to your day.

No reason not to get a temporary job over the Summer though before you start your A Level courses?

[BlueIris]

If paid work feels like too much, you could also find out more about volunteering opportunities if, say, you like working with animals or if customer-facing roles feel impossible at this stage.

[Toby2000]

SOMETHING MAJOR AND AWFUL JUST HAPPENED - TMI WARNING

My diet over the past couple of days has been extremely bad, I'll go through everything I had since I last went to toilet before now, which was Sunday morning at about 2am

- 5 small chocolate bars
- 3 small coconut tarts
- A small McDonalds cheeseburger
- Pie and mash for dinner
Later tonight..
- 3 bags of crisps
- A WHOLE lemon pie thing because it just tasted too nice
- 3 apples (to help get my bowels moving)
- 2 bean/cheese bakes

I know I know that is SHOCKING and I am going to improve my diet but here's what has happened this morning..

I began to notice pains all around my abdomen which I was expecting because of how much I ate

I had to hold it in for about 40 minutes before my sister went to school so I could go in peace, and I could literally feel at points the stool going through my colon to the point where it felt like there was a baby in there, or that's what I would imagine the pain would be like even though I know it would be worse, but anyway at points the pain was almost unbearable

Before I went to toilet I was expecting the toilet to be full of blood or something

At points I was so desperate that I could sort of feel the texture of the stool poking out and it was hard. At least at the start

My sister finally went to school and I rushed to toilet and it all fell out of me, a lot of it was like diarrhoea

That gave me instant relief from the pains

I flushed and then had to go again 20 seconds later

When getting up to wipe, I look in the toilet bowl and I notice a bit of looser/diarrhoea stool. I wipe it up and see that there's a SMALL SWIRL OF RED IN IT, not bright red but not dark red, somewhere inbetween

My mind starts panicking of course

I then sit down to wipe and on the paper there's what I can only describe as brown mucus (mucus mixed with stool) and in the mucusy bits there are MORE OF THESE SWIRLS OF RED

It looked like the sort of red you'd see if your gums bled but I remember there was a tiny small patch of DARKER, still red, richer red blood that really freaked me out. There was also some brighter red there too

Now I know this could be because of an internal fissure because it REALLY HURT before I went to the toilet all over my stomach

But what if it's a polyp? IBD?? CANCER???

I know this isn't hemorrhoids or a simple fissure lower down because this time was just different, the blood seemed to be mixed in at points with the diarrhoea, in small quantities here and there but still mixed in), and small traces on the paper with the mucus

The start of the stool at least must've been big because it caused pain and I felt how lumpy it was but there was diarrhoea following it too so I don't know

I'm really scared. I was SO READY to start my life over again but this is a massive set back for me.

[Toby2000]

Also Pulisa and BlueIris, I will consider it. I don't know I'm just not someone who voluntarily goes out to do stuff unless it's routine, but I'll see

[Toby2000]

Also in less than 5 weeks it'll be a year exactly since all of this s**t (pun intended) started... not a celebration though

[BlueIris]

Toby, I'm sorry this is so upsetting for you but I promise, it's nothing more than cause and effect. Nothing sinister's going on, you've just eaten stuff that disagrees with you and now you're having to pay for it. It's horrible, but you have to decide whether eating like this is worth it. You might decide it is, and that's okay - I don't know anybody with GI issues who doesn't eat things they're not meant to every once in a while.

However, what's happening right now is basic biology, and it will continue happening. How you decide to manage it is up to you.

[Toby2000]

Toby, I'm sorry this is so upsetting for you but I promise, it's nothing more than cause and effect. Nothing sinister's going on, you've just eaten stuff that disagrees with you and now you're having to pay for it. It's horrible, but you have to decide whether eating like this is worth it. You might decide it is, and that's okay - I don't know anybody with GI issues who doesn't eat things they're not meant to every once in a while.

However, what's happening right now is basic biology, and it will continue happening. How you decide to manage it is up to you.

Yeah this is definitely the last time I'm gonna gorge on so much junk food like I did

I mean I'm not intolerant to any of those foods or anything, I can't understand why there was blood unless it was caused by so much stool packed into my colon causing erosion or whatever, especially since it hurt, or a cut further in caused by the harder stool which I could feel at the start

I'm just scared that the harder stool caused a polyp or something worse to bleed

I've never experienced this before when wiping though so it has to be linked to eating so much and the pain which is probably benign but then I don't know :(

[BlueIris]

You don't know, but your GP does and so did the GI specialist you saw. They both agreed there was absolutely nothing to worry about, and there is NO WAY that can have changed in such a short timeframe.

[Toby2000]

I’m just so scared that the blood was from a tumour or polyp or something :(

In fact I’m terrified