I am a 39 year-old woman in excellent health. My mother passed away in 1996 from kidney cancer at the age of 72. I exercise regularly, weigh about 125 and am 5'4. I have an excellent diet and eat whole-grain cereal for breakfast every day such as bran flakes and try to have at least a banana every day, although I'm not diligent. I eat a lot of vegetables. I am experiencing a moderate degree of stress in my life and have been unemployed for about four months. I have a bowel movement about every other day, sometimes every day, and they are for the most part normal (solid - one piece), or sometimes a bit harder and in several pieces, but still easy to pass. Once in a great while I will experience diarrhea, but it will usually passes quickly.
I have experienced some light bleeding from time to time as a result of a hemorrhoid - it can be felt by touching it, or when I try to pass a stool. Hemorrhoids run in the family (my mother suffered from them). My experience with hemorrhoids is very infrequent, and they clear up on their own.
I must say that I have been somewhat constipated over the past few weeks, although still able to pass the stool. I have had bouts of constipation throughout my life. Once in a great while, I will notice mucous in my stool during constipation. Infrequently, I will experience moderate to severe abdominal cramping and am unable to pass stool. I have used an enema to help move the stool along at those times, and this has been effective. Again, this doesn't happen very often. I have also used Metamucil.
I had an abdominal cramping episode about two weeks ago. At that time I administered an enema and was able to pass stool. I've been fine since then, although have felt some indigestion on and off. On Saturday, 1/21, I had chicken cordon bleu at a restaurant. About two hours after the meal (11 p.m.), I began to have severe abdominal cramping and was unable to pass a stool. I administered an enema at the time was then able to pass some, but it was very hard. I then vomited, although I didn't feel particularly nauseous. I then experienced an episode of diarrhea that did not contain any blood. I ran a fever of about 99.5 for a very short time, but it quickly resolved. The diarrhea stopped as well. I continued to experience intermittent abdominal cramping throughout the night. The next morning, I had a loose bowel movement that contained mucous and blood. I didn