I think I have a polyp, can anyone confirm how worried I should be? 17/male

[veryfastrunner]

Hi.

So, growing up, I've spent a lot of time on the toilet. I like to sit there for an hour and really, you know, get everything out. Usually scraping pretty deep inside, and straining hard, occasionally hitting some blood.

Anyway, things were always fine-- up until like a year and a half ago. One time, a LOT of blood came out. I was kinda shocked, but I just thought it was a hemorrhoid or something (my dad has a history with that stuff). So I let it be.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. One weekend, when I went to the bathroom, a TON! of blood came out. It was niagra falls. My entire toilet bowl was deep red, and the stool was dark dark red. And if I just touched a tissue to my butt, a lot of blood would end up on it. I was really scared. That happened again the next time I went to ****, 1.5 days later, but it seemed to only be like a certain amount; I pushed it all out, all the blood and bloody stool, and that was that. I've been normal up to now.

Here's the real thing I'm concerned about, though. Around 4-6 months ago, something developed in my butt. Like it just happened one time, I was completely aware of it being there and I had no idea how it got there. I reached in my butt and felt a little lump, and I could move it around and stuff, and even pull it a tiny bit out of my butt. One time, (because I have a mirror in my bathroom), I turned around and literally strained so hard that the tiny thing, and whatever "string/skin" it was attached, stuck out of my butt and I could see it in the mirror. It was a little red lump. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS! But I just did some research and found out the description fits exactly with POLYPS!

And I also read that polyps are precancerous? Do I need to get this checked out? I'm barely 17, I thought I'm not supposed to get colon cancer at this age?? And I really do not know the cause of it. I didn't do anything extraordinary that caused the polyp to appear, or for blood to surge out of my anus.

Advice please! My family does not have a history with any type of cancer (besides skin cancer), and only my dad has a history with hemorrhoids, but that's because like me, he would always strain hard.

[GoldenLaurel]

Don't  be afraid to tell your doctor, you may have to do something embarrassing, like give a stool sample or get a colonoscopy. Which are nothing compared to ignoring the problem and having a lot of treatment down the road. I noticed blood in my stool at 21. I went to some doctors but none gave me a colonoscopy because I am not a candidate for colon cancer. Well, 8 years down the road I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. I have no family history. So, moral of the story, if you think something is wrong, listen to yourself and go see a doctor. And it you can find peace of mind when he tells you that you are fine and have nothing to worry about