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Avatar universal

Recal Bleedng

I'm a 30 year old female and I have never been through childbirth nor been pregnant.  Over the summer on occasion I would have small amounts of rectal bleeding when I would go to the bathroom.  In the fall it got worse, and I noticed a fleshy lump near the opening.  I went to my general practitioner who thought perhaps hemorrhoids and gave me a cream.  The cream shrunk the lump down and the bleeding stopped, but after about 2 months it all came back but worse.  Now every time I use the bathroom there is blood, sometimes a lot and its bright red.  Its both in the bowl and on the paper.  Also, it now feels like there is a tearing pain near the opening while I'm going and that seems to be when the blood starts to really appear.  My gp referred me to a gastroenterologist who I met with the other day and he didn't examine me but asked some questions, and said he wants to do a colonoscopy.  I feel like he didn't explain too much to me and I'm just wondering what it sounds like it could be?  He named off 5 or 6 different things but did not seem to have a particular diagnosis in mind.  Also is that a bit drastic, to jump right into a colonoscopy?  I have no digestion problems, some constipation and hard stools, and I know I tense up going to the bathroom now because I'm afraid of bleeding which I'm sure makes it worse.  The lump does swell and go back down to very small depending on how much I have had to push or if I'm constipated and so on.  I'm really scared about the colonoscopy, esp considering I'm fairly young.  I know cancer is always a possibility and that lump makes me nervous, I just wish I knew if my dr. was leaning that way or more towards a disorder and wondering what it sounded more like to people out there?
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Avatar universal
The canker sores probably aren't related to your other problems.  But a colonoscopy is a good test to look at the whole colon for a bunch of different problems.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your input.  The way it swells and shrinks made me kind of think its prob not cancerous.  I also get chronic canker sores and I think he is thinking I may have a condition that has to due with my digestion.  I don't know if that's why he wants the colonoscopy?  He kept saying get a look at the whole thing, and close the book on any questions without any doubts.  I feel a little like he rushed it and jumped the gun, and I don't know if I should get a second opinion even though I didn't get any real answers.  But at the same time I sort of just wanna get it all over with and get a definitive answer.  
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Avatar universal
Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  Based on your symptoms, I think it is very unlikely that the lump is cancerous (if it was cancerous, a cream normally wouldn't make it shrink).  I think it sounds a lot like hemorrhoids and I am surprised that the GI doctor didn't examine you.  A colonoscopy does sound a bit drastic to me, but it is a decision between you and your doctor.  Constipation can also worsen hemorrhoids.
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