After about a year and a half (several months after I gave birth), I went to the hospital because I was in so much pain I could barely breathe. They did an X-ray and said I was extremely constipated, and they told me to follow-up with my doctor and look into getting a colonoscopy. They gave me a bunch of laxatives.

I didn’t have a doctor and I was REALLY broke, so I kept trying to ignore it.

Anyway, 6 months after that, it was getting a whole lot worse and I managed to come up with the money to see a doctor. He was really unhelpful and said I probably just had IBS. I think he only saw me for a few minutes.

So, like three months ago– this is like 3 years after all this started– I finally managed to start seeing a doc regularly. My doctor also thinks I have IBS, but she says I’m still very constipated and that she’s “a little concerned” that there could be something else going on.

I’m scared to death. I’m really low-risk for colon cancer– 23, female, vegetarian for 10 years… I had rectal bleeding a lot about 2 years ago but not anymore (it was from post-childbirth hemorrhoids)… But I still feel like there’s something wrong. I have horrible reflux, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite. I’m underweight and my stomach NEVER stops hurting.

My mom’s a nurse, and she says there’s no way I could have had all these symptoms for 3 years and still be alive and walking around, if it was colon cancer. And my blood counts are norma; no anemia or anything.

I don’t have money for a colonoscopy… I’ve arranged to get one for free, but that’s 8 months away. In the mean time, I’m scared to death that I’m going to die or that I’ve got a massive tumor in my bowels.

Is there any way I could have had colon cancer all this time, and still be more-or-less okay? Can IBS really cause all these symptoms? The pain is unbearable and nothing helps…

Serious answers only, please… And please don’t answer unless you have at least *some* idea of what you’re talking about.