u/Bighugemassivewilly

For years, I dealt with blood in my stool on and off. It started when I was around 20 with small, infrequent amounts, and every time it happened I convinced myself it was probably hemorrhoids or something minor.This time was different.

The bleeding went on for about three straight weeks. It started with two bowel movements back-to-back that made the toilet look like it was full of blood, that’s all I pooped, blood, and after that I kept seeing blood almost daily.

On top of that, I haven’t had consistently normal, well-formed stools since I was probably 26. When I do have something more formed, they can be really thin or flattened, which only added to the anxiety. Mainly I just poop what I call refried bean looking bowls of poop.

I had been scared of getting a colonoscopy for years and had put it off more than once. Reading stories from people who were diagnosed with serious GI problems at younger ages with blood in stool and well I’m having a kid finally pushed me to stop avoiding it.

So I decided to actually go through with the scope and share the experience for anyone else who is terrified of doing the same thing.

My result: no cancer, no polyps, normal colon and terminal ileum. They did find hemorrhoids and banded two of them. Yes the bands hurt! You can feel them. They also took biopsies to see if there’s a microscopic or inflammatory reason for my long-term bowel issues, so I’m still waiting on those results.

I also had an upper endoscopy done while I was already sedated, when in Rome right? which showed some mild esophageal inflammation.

The procedure itself was nowhere near as bad as I had built it up to be. I remember telling them the meds weren’t working, then waking up and it was over.

I should have done this years ago.

If you’re putting off a colonoscopy because you’re scared of what they might find, the uncertainty can be way worse than actually getting the answer.