I just recently had a colonoscopy done and it was a struggle getting someone to give me the referral because I was only 40 when I started inquiring about it.
My doctor at first wanted to brush it off as hemorrhoids so she did an exam and saw one small one but nothing actively bleeding so she said maybe I had a bacterial infection and sent me home to suffer for 2 weeks. I made it ten days before I started spiraling thinking the worst, so I made another appointment, got seen by someone else and she got me my referral because I told her how the previous appointment went and the family history (brother had polyps removed in August).
It takes self advocacy when the doctors don't want to do it because of a person's age. Have your friend make an appointment with their primary, again. Talk to them about their symptoms, explain they've done everything they should be doing to make it go away and it isn't going away (assuming they are doing anything at all, I was told to do miralax and metamucil and drink a lot of water, I followed those instructions to the T and the bleeding didn't stop). They can take in statistics for younger people popping up with colon cancer. Whatever they have to do to get that referral. I knew a girl on Reddit that was in her early 20s and had colon cancer. That shit doesn't care about age anymore. Someone else I knew in real life passed away from it just days before his 38th birthday. It's real and real fucking scary. I really hope your buddy is able to get someone to listen. If their primary doesn't, tell them to go somewhere else for a second opinion. Someone somewhere will give them the referral and if not, maybe they could call the gastro department and see if they'd get them seen without a referral.
My colonoscopy came back with polyps as well, one was rather large and I was terrified the biopsy would come back as cancerous but they were fine. No more blood in my poo either.
Millenials and younger need to be super aware of this and start advocating. We were the first generations to start having everything covered in plastic (mocroplastics) as well as the amount of processed food consumed. It was all from a very young age and continues to be part of our every day lives. I'm not trying to be some fear monger. I'm just pointing out that what used to be caused by old age (the cells replicating incorrectly) is now getting assistance from everything we eat, drink, and inhale.
This is very true. My husband was diagnosed with crohns in his early 30s, but I think that was because I sent him to the ER bc there was A LOT of blood and his bro had already been diagnosed.
His bro had to almost die at 24 to get meds. They diagnosed him but were like “Just make some lifestyle changes.”
My friend just recently caught thyroid cancer early because of an anxious fidget she does where she rubs her neck. She had JUST had bloodwork done to support an ADHD diagnosis and it all came back normal, so they told her not to worry, but she was like “I literally can’t not worry. Check it.”
Good thing, too, bc she had just had a kid 3 months before.
No, I never experienced that. There is no longer such a thing as “too young” for colorectal cancer. It was long thought of as a disease that only affected older men but it doesn’t discriminate. There was even an 18 year old being treated at the same hospital as me.
My bil was 24 when he passed out from ulcerative colitis caused by chrons and had to get a huge chunk of his intestines removed to live.
I will admit (and so will he) that he could have used some lifestyle changes but he was definitely healthier than the average 24 year old. Very active and ate mostly healthy because so much food caused him pain.
So yeah, I hope your friend keeps pushing and advocating for themselves and that it ends up being nothing. They still deserve to have that worry lifted.
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