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God damn it! I get upset when reading this article! The doctor mentioned at the beginning of the article is obviously not doing his job! "Don't worry about it?!

by makach 6y ago

God damn it! I get upset when reading this article! The doctor mentioned at the beginning of the article is obviously not doing his job! "Don't worry about it?!" "you don't need another physical exam!?" Making assumptions without examination is incredibly unprofessional and carries with it potential critical consequences. If you have an issue and bring it to your doctor and your doctor fails to follow up with an examination and makes assumptions, it is time to find another doctor.

elihu 6y ago
Yep, I was in almost exactly that situation and the doctor said something along the lines of "it's almost always a hemorrhoid, but we'd better schedule you for a colonoscopy just to make sure" and sure enough there was a tumor that wasn't cancerous yet, but could very well have become so and killed me in a few years if nothing had been done. (It runs in the family apparently; my grandmother on my mom's side was from a large family, with seven or eight siblings. They all died of colon cancer. She got it too, but since she went to the doctor with her symptoms instead of staying at home, they were able to remove part of her colon before it got really bad and she lived for many more years.) Moral of the story: go to the doctor if you're bleeding from unexpected places.
- hef19898 6y ago
  Thank gd that caught in time in your case. I was beyond the not-yet-cancerous stage when I had the "better have good look now"colonoscopy. Still early enough to still be around, so!
quietbritishjim 6y ago
Also, he wrote: > Not bright red, more like muddy-red. Poopy-red. Hemerroids are usually a very bright obviously blood-like red. I appreciate he wrote the above description with the benefit of a lot more knowledge than he had when he first saw a doctor, but they should've asked about the colour even if he didn't offer it, and that should've raised extra suspicion immediately.
kypro 6y ago
This happened to someone I know recently. She was a little younger than OP and repeatedly told her doctor how she had symptoms which could potentially be colon cancer but she was repeatedly told not to worry as she was too young and it was probably just haemorrhoids. This went on for about a year I believe. Things got worse and when test were done she found out she had stage 4 cancer and probably only had a few months to live. If you have symptoms which could be cancer regardless of your age insist you have the right tests done to rule it out. Most cancer is very preventable in its early stages.
jkereako 6y ago
Yep this is exactly what happened to my dad. He had bloody stools, told no one but his 80-year old doctor who said “relax it’s just hemorrhoids” without verifying his claim. This went on for years until he was diagnosed with Stage IV and died five years later at 51. Just one colonoscopy even a year sooner may have saved his life.
greedo 6y ago
I was diagnosed at age 41 with colorectal cancer. My GP had ignored my complaints about it a year earlier, and dismissed it (without a rectal exam) as "probably hemorrhoids." A year later, he thought better of it and sent me for a consult with a specialist who instantly spotted a 5cm mass in my rectum. A year later, while doing a followup from my surgery, I mentioned how cavalier my GP was to the surgeon who saved my life. He said that many doctors don't really think of colon cancer for anyone under 50 unless there's a family history. That was 15 years ago, and the medical community has generally understood that colorectal cancer can occur far earlier than previously expected.
mleonhard 6y ago
Many doctors just aren't very good. I went to an allergy doctor about perfume allergy. They told me it was incurable and probably won't get better, just avoid perfume. I started doing my own research. I found a study result that showed that perfume allergy is psycho-somatic. Then I learned stress reduction techniques and used them to cure myself.

by makach 6y ago

elihu 6y ago

Yep, I was in almost exactly that situation and the doctor said something along the lines of "it's almost always a hemorrhoid, but we'd better schedule you for a colonoscopy just to make sure" and sure enough there was a tumor that wasn't cancerous yet, but could very well have become so and killed me in a few years if nothing had been done. (It runs in the family apparently; my grandmother on my mom's side was from a large family, with seven or eight siblings. They all died of colon cancer. She got it too, but since she went to the doctor with her symptoms instead of staying at home, they were able to remove part of her colon before it got really bad and she lived for many more years.) Moral of the story: go to the doctor if you're bleeding from unexpected places.

hef19898 6y ago
Thank gd that caught in time in your case. I was beyond the not-yet-cancerous stage when I had the "better have good look now"colonoscopy. Still early enough to still be around, so!

quietbritishjim 6y ago

Also, he wrote: > Not bright red, more like muddy-red. Poopy-red. Hemerroids are usually a very bright obviously blood-like red. I appreciate he wrote the above description with the benefit of a lot more knowledge than he had when he first saw a doctor, but they should've asked about the colour even if he didn't offer it, and that should've raised extra suspicion immediately.

kypro 6y ago

This happened to someone I know recently. She was a little younger than OP and repeatedly told her doctor how she had symptoms which could potentially be colon cancer but she was repeatedly told not to worry as she was too young and it was probably just haemorrhoids. This went on for about a year I believe. Things got worse and when test were done she found out she had stage 4 cancer and probably only had a few months to live. If you have symptoms which could be cancer regardless of your age insist you have the right tests done to rule it out. Most cancer is very preventable in its early stages.

jkereako 6y ago

Yep this is exactly what happened to my dad. He had bloody stools, told no one but his 80-year old doctor who said “relax it’s just hemorrhoids” without verifying his claim. This went on for years until he was diagnosed with Stage IV and died five years later at 51. Just one colonoscopy even a year sooner may have saved his life.

greedo 6y ago

I was diagnosed at age 41 with colorectal cancer. My GP had ignored my complaints about it a year earlier, and dismissed it (without a rectal exam) as "probably hemorrhoids." A year later, he thought better of it and sent me for a consult with a specialist who instantly spotted a 5cm mass in my rectum. A year later, while doing a followup from my surgery, I mentioned how cavalier my GP was to the surgeon who saved my life. He said that many doctors don't really think of colon cancer for anyone under 50 unless there's a family history. That was 15 years ago, and the medical community has generally understood that colorectal cancer can occur far earlier than previously expected.

mleonhard 6y ago

Many doctors just aren't very good. I went to an allergy doctor about perfume allergy. They told me it was incurable and probably won't get better, just avoid perfume. I started doing my own research. I found a study result that showed that perfume allergy is psycho-somatic. Then I learned stress reduction techniques and used them to cure myself.