1st = 6 weeks ago, I had pains in my lower-left abdomen, and had a CT scan using the dye that went into the vein. The doctor said everything looked OK and clean. Question = Would a tumor or growth in my colon (or other surrounding organs) have showed up on the CT scan using the dye?

2nd = I've had loose stools for 5 weeks, so I had 2 FOBTs done 1 week apart, that showed no blood in the stool. Would these 2 negative tests, in conjunction with the clean CT scan, pretty much rule out colon cancer?

3rd = I had a colonoscopy performed 6 years ago (2002), which came back clean. Again, would this result, in conjunction with the 2 described above also rule out the possibility of CRC? They say you should get a colonoscopy every '10' years, so 6 years is well within this time-frame.

I've had abnormal bowel and discomfort for the past 6 weeks, and I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy on June 25th. But this morning, I had thin stool & a slight bit of bright red blood (hemoroid / fissure?), and with my continuing discomfort, it gets you to wondering and is quite un-nerving. I know it could be a number of bowel disorders, but any info and/or opinions would be welcome.

Thanks. Mark

Also - I've been experiencing a great deal of heartburn & belching the past 6-10 months. Is the ANY correlation between these symptoms and colon cancer? Thanks.

marky,
all I can tell you is that my HB had none of the symptoms that you are having, and he had stage 3 CC. He had no bleeding (visable), no heartburn, normal BMs, no pain or discomfort, only extreme fatigue. and positive FOTB.

Get your colonoscopy though and get peace of mind. Best wishes.

Mark,

Usually, unless a tumor is quite large or bulky, a CT scan alone will NOT pick up tumors located in the colon/rectum, so please don't rely on the CT scan as a diagnostic tool for this. If a person has colorectal cancer, CT scans are used to look at other places in the body where the cancer might have spread.

The FOBT are a good tool, but negative test results such as you had are not necessarily an indicator that everything is fine. I had a 4-6 cm rectal tumor and a negative FOBT. Not all tumors or polyps bleed so, again, while that particular test can be helpful you cannot rely on it when it comes back showing no blood.

The 10 year colonoscopy guideline is just that - a guideline. Everyone is different and if, for example, two weeks after your last colonoscopy (this is purely hypothetical) a polyp developed, in this period of time (6 years) it could very well be causing problems by now. Personally, I, along with many people, would like to see the standard 10 year guideline reduced to 5. People need to understand that within that 10 year guideline, many many things can and do happen. Please don't assume that since you have 4 years left you are fine. It just doesn't always work that way.

As for the thin stools and blood, yes, you are correct that those could be caused by a number of different things besides cancer. An anal fissure is almost always EXTREMELY uncomfortable during a bowel movement and right afterwards for up to an hour or two. It's more than just discomfort - its painful! Hemmorhoids rarely cause much discomfort - itching yes but not what I think you are trying to convey. Besides colorectal cancer, other diseases such as diverticulitis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis can cause similar symptoms. These are also serious diseases/problems that NEED to be evaluated. The only sure way to know what is going on is to have the colonoscopy. Regardless of what it is, you need to have it identified and treated. Remember that patients with Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are at increased risk for colorectal cancer down the road. Make sure that if you are diagnosed with one of these diseases, that you follow up with your doctor to be monitored carefully.
Good luck.

Jaynee

Thanks Jaynee! I just picked up my prescription of NuLYTELY to start my prep next Tuesday for my Wednesday morning festivities! I agree, I'm going to do the FOBT every January and have a colonoscopy every 5 years to keep on top of things, especially with the bowel abnormalities I've had the past 6-7 years. Can't be too careful, plus, I have a 9-yr old that I'd like to see have his Dad at his high school graduation!!

I am now becoming more concerned. 2nd day in a row where I've had thin stools -and- bright red blood on the toilet paper. Can this be caused by something else? Hemerroids? Inflammation?

My colonoscopy can't get here soon enough!! Boy-oh-boy.

I went to the hospital where I had my CT scans done, and obtained a report of the findings. It appears all of my organs are 'unremarkable' (normal).

The findings reported:
> No fluid collection or abnormal thickening of the bowell walls
> No obstruction
> No pneumatosis (gas cysts in the bowel wall)
> No acute bowel changes

Based on this report, it appears that they can indeed see the bowel walls with some pretty good detail. Is it not safe to say that a tumor would most likely have shown up under testing of this magnitude? When they said "no obstruction", does that include polyps? The "no thickening of the bowel wall" has to be a good sign, no?

Mark

First of all, the no obstruction just means that there are no masses big enough to cause obstruction which obviously is good. As for the bowel wall thickening, that also is good. No, the CT scan cannot detect polyps, or for that matter, smaller tumors. In addition, a CT scan is NOT reliable for rectal cancer/polyps/masses. IF a patient has rectal cancer AND the tumor is large enough, one side of the rectum (on a CT scan) will bulge more than the other side, however, the actual tumor itself is NOT seen. While the report might lead you to believe that they can see the bowel walls with a high degree of accuracy, the CT scan does NOT, by itself, allow for diagnosis of colorectal cancer. What is good is that IF (and notice I capitalized the word IF) you have colorectal cancer, it obviously hasn't spread. In addition, IF there is a cancerous mass, the fact that no lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes) was noted is also a good sign.

You still need to have the colonoscopy to detect if there is a small tumor/polyp in your colon or anything going on in the rectal area. I know full well how unpleasant and scary this whole process is, but believe me, it is MUCH better to go through this now than to keep waiting and putting it off and then finally have to do these tests when the real emergency arises.
Good luck and please let us know what the test shows.

Jaynee