{"id":353849,"date":"2025-12-18T19:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T19:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/353849\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T19:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T19:13:07","slug":"how-i-knew-i-had-colorectal-cancer-six-survivors-share-their-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/353849\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How I knew I had colorectal cancer\u2019: Six survivors share their symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain can all be symptoms of colorectal cancer<\/a>.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

But they can also be signs of other conditions, including Crohn\u2019s disease<\/a>, irritable bowel syndrome<\/a> and even a stomach virus.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, how do you know when it\u2019s time to see a doctor?\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time symptoms persist for longer than two weeks, they are cause for concern,\u201d says gastroenterologist David Richards, M.D.<\/a> \u201cThat\u2019s particularly true if they\u2019re accompanied by abdominal pain, bloody stools<\/a> or unintentional weight loss<\/a>.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how six of our patients knew they had colorectal cancer, in their own words.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blood in the stool or toilet bowl\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI experienced bloody stools, bowel changes, and abdominal pains for months,\u201d recalls\u00a0Anatole Karpovs, M.D.<\/a>, a Louisiana pediatrician who was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer at age 37. \u201cBut as a doctor with a busy practice and a hectic family life, I didn\u2019t have time to be sick. So, I explained away my symptoms or minimized them. It was only later, when they became persistent enough that I couldn\u2019t ignore them, that I finally sought treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robert Harris<\/a> was 76 when he was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer. \u201cI started having dark stools<\/a> and a little pain in my lower abdomen, so I called my family doctor,\u201d says the retired army veteran and project manager. \u201cShe thought it might be my appendix<\/a>, since the pain was on my right side, so she brought me in for a check-up. But then she did a digital exam and said there was blood in my stool.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Diarrhea\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Courtney Nash<\/a>, who was 35 when she was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer, had been dealing with chronic diarrhea, frequent stomach aches and other digestive issues for more than 20 years due to ulcerative colitis<\/a>.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut after the birth of my second daughter, my symptoms increased dramatically,\u201d says Courtney, a sugar cane farmer from Harlingen, Texas. \u201cI started dropping weight, losing my hair and even passing blood occasionally.\u201d\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Constipation or problems having a bowel movement\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pregnant with my second child when I began having constipation,\u201d recalls Catherine Wright<\/a>, a stay-at-home mom from Florida who was 33 when she was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer. \u201cEach night, I\u2019d wake up with an urgent need to go to the bathroom. But then I\u2019d sit on the toilet, unable to empty my bowels. It was annoying and interfered with my sleep.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the inconsistent stools I was experiencing were from diet changes I\u2019d made,\u201d adds graphic designer Jaystan Davis<\/a>, who was only 19 when he was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. \u201cI was scared and very confused.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unexplained and unexpected weight loss\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people get a bit heavier over the holidays,\u201d notes Kenneth Rolston, M.D.<\/a>, a retired MD Anderson infectious diseases specialist who was 66 when he was diagnosed with stage I colorectal cancer. \u201cBut I\u2019d been losing weight steadily<\/a> for about four months by early 2017. And I was not trying to. I was also experiencing fatigue.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kenneth finally made an appointment after his wife looked across the dinner table at him one night and said, \u201cYou are literally melting away before my eyes. What\u2019s it going to take to get you to go to the doctor?\u201d\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t wait to call your doctor if you see any of these symptoms\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Colorectal cancer symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating and fatigue are common and non-specific enough that they could be caused by any number of conditions.<\/p>\n

But if you experience one or more of the following \u201calarm symptoms,\u201d consider it a red flag and contact your doctor immediately.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThings like diarrhea and constipation are so general that they could be due to many possible causes,\u201d notes Richards. \u201cNone of them necessarily means that you have colorectal cancer. But if a symptom is persistent, rather than a one-time issue, it should at least warrant a conversation with your doctor. And, some symptoms, such as rectal bleeding, black stools, and anemia, should prompt a visit to your doctor, if they haven\u2019t already been evaluated.\u201d\u202f\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at MD Anderson online<\/a> or call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n

See a doctor if symptoms like diarrhea, constipation or bloating don\u2019t resolve on their own within a few weeks.\u00a0
\nExcessive fatigue and losing weight without trying may also be symptoms of colorectal cancer.\u00a0
\nContact a doctor immediately if you see blood in your stool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain can all be symptoms of colorectal cancer.\u202f\u202f\u00a0 But they can also be signs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,99544,25463,32279,153352,153351,84,117065,153353,10569,34830,18018],"class_list":["post-353849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-caregivers","tag-colorectal","tag-colorectal-cancer","tag-diagnosis-treatment","tag-family-friends","tag-health","tag-health-vigilant","tag-patient-caregiver-stories","tag-patients","tag-survivors","tag-symptoms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}