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Bright Red Stool, Fatigued. Had Tumor Removed For Stage 3 Colon Cancer, Had Chemos. Why ?
I am 34 years old, at the age of 23 i was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer , had the tumor removed and did rounds of chemo and radiation . a couple days ago i ate 3/4 of a pizza, when i went to the bathroom i saw bright red stool (half the stool looked fine but the other have was red, because they removed about a foot and a half of my colon my stool are usually very loose. i have felt fatigued and not been that hungery, and today i fell a little pain in my lower left quadrant of my abdomin. I did see my oncologist this summer mabye june and she said my blood work was fine, my last colonoscopy was a little over a year ago, what do you think
posted on
Sat, 6 Oct 2012
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Mon, 3 Dec 2012
Answered on
Tue, 4 Dec 2012
Last reviewed on
Dear mister, i can tell you my opinion and give you some advice. You are young and as you know colon cancers are not so common at this age but today we see more and more malignant diseases in younger population. You also probably know what stage 3 (Dukes C) means. It means that tumor has grown through the mucosa and involved lymph nodes...
I dont know details about your surgery but anterior resection or haemcolectomy was probably performed. Standard treatment for stage 3 is surgery folowed by chemoth.
Blood in the stool can be sign of benign or less benign disorders. You have medical history which should guide us to search for recidives of cancer especially because it was stage 3 so first thing to do is to rule this out... how? do colonoscopy twice a year and tumor markers(CEA, CA 19-9) and CT scan to exclude metastases.
But, I think that your symptoms are caused by something else.chemotherapy side effects..chemoth effects normal cells such as abnormal ones and cplon mucosa is especially sensitive to chemotherapy usually causing diarrhea, anaemia and many other disorders so u should ask your oncology about this.
Food shouldnt be reason for blood in the stool but there are diets protocols which are recommended for these kind of patients.
I wish you have good health, Dr. Ivan Romich
I dont know details about your surgery but anterior resection or haemcolectomy was probably performed. Standard treatment for stage 3 is surgery folowed by chemoth.
Blood in the stool can be sign of benign or less benign disorders. You have medical history which should guide us to search for recidives of cancer especially because it was stage 3 so first thing to do is to rule this out... how? do colonoscopy twice a year and tumor markers(CEA, CA 19-9) and CT scan to exclude metastases.
But, I think that your symptoms are caused by something else.chemotherapy side effects..chemoth effects normal cells such as abnormal ones and cplon mucosa is especially sensitive to chemotherapy usually causing diarrhea, anaemia and many other disorders so u should ask your oncology about this.
Food shouldnt be reason for blood in the stool but there are diets protocols which are recommended for these kind of patients.
I wish you have good health, Dr. Ivan Romich
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