I am 72 and have suffered from IBS for most of my adult life. I have also struggled with health anxiety forever. Over the last few months my IBS symptoms worsened to the point where I finally went to the GP. She ran blood tests, diagnosed inflammation & infection, sent me home with antispasmodics to rest. Things gradually improved, but after a couple of weeks my lower-left abdominal pain and nausea started coming back, so I went back to the GP. She ordered more blood tests and a stool test called a FIT - more sensitive than the standard one. A few days after sending off the test, I got a call from the hospital saying that high levels of blood had been found in my sample, and I needed to come in urgently for a colonoscopy. That was Thursday. It’s now Saturday, and my health anxiety is through the roof. My colonoscopy is on Tuesday, and all I can think about is that I’m sure I have bowel cancer. I am utterly terrified. The nurse who rang me went through a list of symptoms - pain (yes), bloating (yes), nausea/vomiting (no vomiting, but nausea, yes), change in bowel habits (yes), loss of appetite (yes)... She said the levels of blood they found cause concern about cancer, hence the urgency. So i am convinced now that I have advanced colon cancer, and earlier symptoms I’d attributed to IBS were really more serious, so it’s probably incurable now. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next few days - and then waiting for the results of any biopsies. Any advice, reassurance, words of wisdom would be appreciated.