Hello! I am a healthy 19 year old male with no prior history of health issues. My father died of esophageal cancer that metastasized to other parts of his body at 35 years old. No real history of medication, except for I did take a 6 month dose of Accutane to treat severe acne. This was about 1-2 years ago. So the problem started within this past year. The issue is that I have been experiencing painful and bloody bowel movements for a while now and it has gradually gotten worse over the past year. My mother is a nurse, so we have a habit of just "toughing it out", but I am beginning to get a little worried, considering how the problem has progressed and how long it has persisted. When I have a BM I experience a sharp pain in the rectal area, and bright red blood. The bleeding has been getting progressively worse over the past year to the point where tonight, after passing stool, a few drops of blood dripped into the toilet, and there was a substantial amount of blood on the toilet paper. Also at first Also, recently i have been able to feel a small bump near the anus. It is fairly small and hard. At first I thought hemorrhoids, but the symptoms only occur when having a BM. No pain, itching, or anything at any other time. This leads me to believe that it may be something more serious! I would be super embarrassed to go to the doctor and it just be hemorrhoids, but I am scared it could be something else. I am happy to answer any questions that you may have that would help clear things up. I just need an opinion of if I should be worried and if I should go to the doctor to get it looked at!
Thank you so much for your time!