My doc wants to focus on my colin, I'm paranoid...?

Question

-Wants Blood Test, CT Scan of abdomen/pelvis.
-However, did not ask for stool sample
-30 years old, Male
-Family history of col cancer
-Bloating/tightening in stomach
-Left side always, sometimes right as well
-Frequent upset stomach
-Goes away easily with Pepto
-Has gone away for as many as 5 days straight
-Bowel movements have been regular
-Pain is never "unbearable", more "discomfort" than pain, as if I drank some questionable milk
-Have had a few anxiety attacks, may be unrelated
-No vomiting
-Not tied to diet (eat salad - get the bloating, eat McDonalds and dont)

Does anyone with personal or medical experience have anything to offer? If it was the "C" word, would the symptoms be worse and painful? If not, would actually having symptoms mean it's advanced?

Answer 1

There are MANY different things that could go 'wrong' in your colon, and your doctor is simply trying to find out what, if anything, is 'wrong' with yours ... yes, you are 'paranoid' to think it's Cancer ... and you can't always 'tell' you have cancer from any 'symptoms' ... my guess is that you have simply some 'digestive problems' and that once the tests are in and read, your doctor will be able to help you 'feel good' all the time ...

Answer 2

CALM DOWN!!!!
Hi! I hope the information that I will be giving you will make you understand your illness, its course, and the measures that your physician is taking to make an accurate diagnosis.

LEFT SIDE --> pain related to this area IS indeed really painful.It is more related to Obstructive reasons like a tumor, a stricture, etc that obstructs your bowel movement.
NO VOMITING --> the location is in the lower parts of your GIT -- your large intestine (cecum, ascending/transverse/descending colon, etc.)
NO STOOL SAMPLE --> the information that you can get from a stool sample would be the presence or absence of parasites, an estimate of bacterial overgrowth, bleeding. I guess your physician found it unnecessary since you don't have any fever, this has been going on for a long time, pepto relieves the pain and you have a strong heredofamilial history of colon cancer.
BLOOD TEST --> helps confirm or exclude other differentials that your doc might be thinking of

Severity of the pain is NOT related to whether or not it's more or less likely to be cancer. But the pain which you should be alarmed of is if the pain awakens you while you are asleep. This means that what you are having is indeed SERIOUS.
In some cancers, the presence of symptoms MAY mean that it is advanced. Or, it may be just starting (since you're still 30) and your body is reacting to your illness.

Or...it may NOT BE CANCER.
To consider IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is by EXCLUSION. and there is what we call the ROME II CRITERIA to say that it is IBS. You need at least 2 out of the 3 to say that it may be IBS. (google that info!) IBS may manifest as diarrhea-predominant , or constipation-predominant and mixed. But the important thing to be able to consider IBS is the relief of abdominal pain after evacuation and the absence of structural/anatomical abnormalities (may be seen by colonoscopy).
It can be any of the malabsorption syndromes.
It may also be idiopathic.


Work with your doctor. Your cooperation matters a LOT to your treatment.
Have faith.

Answer 3

From the National Cancer Institute, the 7 warning signs of cancer are--

C- Change in bowel or bladder habits

A- A sore that does not heal

U- Unusual bleeding or discharge

T- Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere

I- Indigestion or Dysphagia (difficult or painful swallowing)

O- Obvious change in wart or mole

N- Nagging cough or hoarseness

Five hundred years ago, people said the world was flat. Today, people say that if the FDA and AMA haven't blessed something, it can't be real good. Well, here's something I know to be real AND good. It's a little different take on cancer treatment--

In 1990, I had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, stage 3-B, but I've survived. My doctors were great people, but they were limited to surgery, chemo and radiation by profitable AMA treatment policy. During the year in treatment, I started learning about alternative medicine. I'm a retired engineer, and this is what I've pieced together--our IMMUNE SYSTEMS become weakened by poor nutrition, lack of exercise and reduced oxygen. Once that happens, our body becomes vulnerable to common STRESSORS. Stressors can be environmental, like viruses, heavy metals, pesticides, food additives, electromagnetic waves or pollution. They can be internal things like emotional or job stress, or poisonous people in our lives. Aging is also a contributing factor. So this means:

WEAK IMMUNE SYSTEM + STRESSORS = DISEASE (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.)

Our bodies have 60 trillion--yes, trillion--cells, and there are always some mutating into cancer cells, but a healthy immune system kills them before they have a chance to get a foothold in the body.

It takes a LONG time, usually, or a high level of stressors, to weaken the immune system to the point where it won't do its job, but once cancer has formed, it will generally spread rapidly.

THIS IS IMPORTANT! There are ways to BEAT cancer that are currently being used in Europe and around the world, and there are some great books on the subject. I know because I've read about 50 of them from cover to cover. Here's a list of the best ones. Some are out of print and getting hard to find--

"The Cure for All Cancers", ISBN 0963632825
"The Cure for All Advanced Cancers", ISBN 1890035165
"A Cancer Therapy", ISBN 0882681052
"Oxygen Therapies", ISBN 0962052701
"Hydrogen Peroxide--Medical Miracle", ISBN 1885236077
"The Natural Cure for Cancer--Germanium", ISBN 0533071410
"Killing Cancer", ISBN 0705000966
"Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About", ISBN 0975599518

I know of people whose cancer has 'spontaneously remitted' (WENT AWAY for no known reason) AFTER they went on programs of herbs and nutrition to restart their immune systems.

You and your family must look out for yourselves to stand a chance of being healthy. This is not a joke, and I'm not selling anything--just trying to help.
I am using the things I learned in those books right now to fight off a second infestation of cancer. I've been at it for over a year now, and think I'm going to make it. Use what works for you, and pass on your success. Best of luck.

Answer 4

the first most obvious thing is to slow down and relax, in refering to the colin, its more than just the anal sphincter ring, it also includes 10 to 12 inches of your lower intestine. a full exam includes about 17 ft of your lower g i tract. your nervousness is not helping your case, there are a lot of possiblities for your problems. your md is trying to rule out as many un-necessary possiblities as can be done. work with him. just because your family has had a history of colin cancer does not necessarily mean that you will come down with it. try concentrating on one item at a time and eliminate conditions and symtoms as the y do or dont occur. what are you doing that causes or brings on the problems you are observing? if need be get a black note book and start a daily log of everything that you are doing in detail. this includes any exercise, work, stressfull lifting of any heavy objects that you are not accostomed to doing. including children, groceries car parts, whatever. dont forget the diet, one item at a time, just because you have eatten these items from day one doesnt mean that they were not contaminated when you ingested them, including any chicken or sea food and dairy products. dont rule out lactose intolerance, as you grow older your body does change. you will have to put up with that and the onset of eventual diabeties, all of this has a foot in some part of your complaints. good luck

Answer 5

I know its easy to say but information is power.Get the tests.Family history warrents having them,but don't be so quick to worry.Many things including Anxiety attacks could cause all the symptoms you list,and more.Until you are told otherwise you only have symptoms not a definitive diagnosis of anything.

Answer 6

could be IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) (runs in families)
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs_ez/

could be a lot of different digestive disorders too, but that is one of the most benign common ones...

In medicine there is a term called CYA...cover your...it means to rule out the worst things....

Answer 7

NO stool for blood, or colonoscopy? See a gastroenterologist. You are wasting money and getting no results.