? if blood in stool

[judes123]

I have a history of rectal cancer 2007 with resection.  Cancer free now.  Last colonoscopy 2011 with some colitis per biopsy & diverticuli.  On lialda and gluten free diet for IBS symptoms with good control of painful episodes.  Recent hard stools last few days.  I also take stool softener & fiber pill which usually keeps things soft and moving.  Today I noticed red tinged stools in the am I noticed the toilet water being red tinged when I came home from work.  I had forgot to flush in the am so the stool had been sitting there for a long period of time.  The red tinged water looked like blood.  Could this color be from red beans that I had the night before?  Has red kidney beans in stool been known to cause toilet water to turn redish?  I really don't want to go through a major work up for nothing.  I'm stressed thinking the cancer is back & I really don't want to go through "everything" again.  I really hope its from what I had to eat.  I would feel much better to think the kidney beans could be the problem.  Thanks so much for helping...

[mammo]

You really need to get this checked out.  With your history you never want to assume anything and as you know...the earlier something is diagnosed the better.  You should have been scoped before now per your doctor's orders to keep an eye on things.  The blood may be from hemorrhoids but never assume anything since you did have cancer. You need to have a scope to see what is going on.  I know you don't want to go through this again but it's worth the hassle.  Call your GI doctor and go from there.  Take care.

[sevans9793]

It could be but I have never had blood in my stool and many times after I leave my stool in the toilet for long periods of time (I once left a huge one in the toilet while I went on vacation for days XD) or even 7 hours the water acquires a red tinge for some reason.

I would ask you to stay vigilant however considering your medical history.