A friend of mine started having blood in his stools a couple of weeks ago

He has a lot of blood in the water when he goes to the bathroom(a LOT)

Please don't "explore the gay angle" he is not gay, or bi or anything like that
and, he could literally be DEAD from this in the very near future
We've been friends since 79', he was my girlfriends brother

He is waiting to go to the doctor because of an insurance issue that
may or may not be resolved in the next few weeks(or months)

I am wondering what else this could be other than colo-rectal cancer

And yes, I AM trying to get him to go to the doctor right NOW

Could just be pollups (sp?) or rhoids.  Your friend needs to get scoped asap.  Even if it is cancer, if it is detected early enough, it is very treatable.  My father had a portion of his colon removed several years ago and is doing fine.

Cavu

The blood is actually IN the stools

He said one broke open and the water turned solid red

I have never heard of anything like that

Hmmm.  That is kinda odd.  Does your friend have any family history of cancer?  

Quoted: Hmmm.  That is kinda odd.  Does your friend have any family history of cancer?

I don't think so, I'll have to ask him tomorrow to be certain

Bleeding is distal(colonic) from the sounds of it.
Is he having pain or has he been ill?

In any event:
-hemorrhoids--most likely just based on overall numbers
-angiodysplasia--blood vessel thing
-Diverticulitis--almost always accompanied by pain, probably fever as well
-Colitis--infectious or inflammatory
-Crohns
-Cancer
-Fistula
-problems with liver or anything else that might effect his ability to clot. That could be metabolic or due to meds including aspirin.  Alcoholism could also cause liver problems and diminshed clotting factors.
-others

An anal fissure would be unlikely given that the blodd is mixed in with the stool

He needs to be seen as if it is something serious it could become much worse and give him a much poorer chance for survival

He has been sick for about a week, he has been bleeding for about two weeks

he might of been taking some prescriptions for muscle problems a month ago

Quoted: He has been sick for about a week, he has been bleeding for about two weeks he might of been taking some prescriptions for muscle problems a month ago

That is nowhere near enough info 22bad.

Quoted: Quoted: He has been sick for about a week, he has been bleeding for about two weeks he might of been taking some prescriptions for muscle problems a month ago That is nowhere near enough info 22bad.

I know, I don't know all the answers
I can ask him any questions tomorrow
I appreciate your responses
that LONG ASS list actually made me feel better
it might NOT be cancer

He does not drink, smoke or do drugs

I was IMed by someone that doesn't want to post in GD
they said that they were on meds for "muscle" problems too
they had bloody stools too, I think I'll call him and tell him that now

Quoted: He does not drink, smoke or do drugs

Start now?  

/gotta lighten the mood after reading that............

//good luck too.

My best friend who is more of my brother than my actual relatives had this issue when we were kids. I think we were maybe 10 or 11 years old. He had bloody stools, but not much pain really. Turns out it was colon cancer, and his entire large intestine had to be removed.

He wore a colostimy (sp?) bag for about 6 months to a year after his surgery, and was on a lot of steroids. Then, the doctors performed a surgery to attach his small intestine to the rectum in place of his large intestine. Immodium and other such drugs are an everyday occurance for him, litterally 6-8 times a day with doctor-perscribed high doses (3 pills I think). He has complications from time to time, and still has to see the doctors every 6 months or so to get scoped.

We are both now 26, and not a day hasn't passed that I haven't supported him in his ordeal. Many kids would laugh or poke fun, especially when he had to wear the bag. One of his life goals was to serve in the military, but could not due to the obvious medical condition. That's part of the reason I serve, on his behalf.

I hope it turns out for the best for your friend, but if it should be the worst, the best and only thing you can do is be there to support him.

Quoted: Quoted: He does not drink, smoke or do drugs Start now?   /gotta lighten the mood after reading that............ //good luck too.

I laughed

Quoted: I was IMed by someone that doesn't want to post in GD they said that they were on meds for "muscle" problems too they had bloody stools too, I think I'll call him and tell him that now

Well........that didn't work out too well

I called him and woke him up, he was so out of it he couldn't remember
if he was taking meds last month or not, I'll call him back tomorrow

If I saw a fair amount of blood in the bowl after taking a dump I would be on my way to the ER.
My grandpa had colon cancer which spread to his pancreas. He didn't live much longer once it hit the pancreas

Any pain, especially in his lower left abdomen?  Does he often have to strain to take a dump?  History of constipation?  The straining might have caused diverticulosis (a pocket formed in the side of the colon, often in the lower left corner);  the pain could indicate diverticulitis (infection in the pocket).  These sometimes bleed, but two weeks straight sounds excessive.

Which medication was it that he might have been taking?  I took Voltaren (I think that was the name, a little triangular pill), an anti-inflammatory, for two or three days and had to stop because of serious bleeding.

There are plenty of other possibilities.  I had an intestinal bug for about a week two years ago, probably some sort of enteritis, and had some bleeding as a result of that.

Regardless, he does need to go get poked and prodded.  This is likely going to be a glove-snapping exam.

Quoted: A friend of mine started having blood in his stools a couple of weeks ago He has a lot of blood in the water when he goes to the bathroom(a LOT) Please don't "explore the gay angle" he is not gay, or bi or anything like that and, he could literally be DEAD from this in the very near future We've been friends since 79', he was my girlfriends brother He is waiting to go to the doctor because of an insurance issue that may or may not be resolved in the next few weeks(or months) I am wondering what else this could be other than colo-rectal cancer And yes, I AM trying to get him to go to the doctor right NOW

"A lot" of blood in his stool is usually indicative of something serious. Serious as in do not pass go, do not collect 200 bucks, get-your-ass-to-the-doctor-if-you-want-to-live type stuff.

I just had a colonoscopy about a month ago.  I had the same symptoms

I had bloody stools as well as mucus in the stools.  I'm 27 and my grandmother died from colon cancer so I was scared to death to get the results of the scope.  The blood was bright red so that meant that it was fresh (from the colon, not small intestine).   I didn't have much pain that I can recall when I was on the pot.  Sometimes when I traveled I'd get constipated and the only thing that would come out was blood/mucus.  

I went through the colonoscopy and it was a breeze,  the drugs they gave me put me out about 5 seconds into it and all I remember was waking up in the recovery room.  They did take a biopsy and the result/conclusion was that I had something called proctitis.  It is an inflammation of the lower lower intestine, like a few inches up in ya, and not way up in my colon.  The dr. gave me 2 weeks worth of hydrocortosone butt pills and that cleared everything up.  I still have had a couple episodes of blood, but other than that am normal and KNOW that it's not cancer.  I think just knowing that it wasn't cancer helped my health out.  He said they don't know what causes proctitis but it may come and go and has potential to spread upwards in the colon.  So from now on if I have outbreaks I just get the perscription refilled and that should treat the symptoms.

As for the insurance side of it,  I have blue cross/blue shield PPO and I am out of pocket almost $1,000 even.   Sure it's deductible for my next years taxes, but it's quite a bit of money.  I guess though it's better than waiting for ever and if it was cancer, having it spread and get worse, causing more $$, surgery, death, etc...  I just think of the $$ as the missing AR in my gun collection.  I was going to use this year's return to make and AR out of my stripped lower, but I'll put it off another year.

Quoted: The blood is actually IN the stools He said one broke open and the water turned solid red I have never heard of anything like that

That sounds like the symptoms of crohns disease or colitis.
I have ulcerative colitis and my advice to your friend is to get it treated as soon as possible.
Since there was no pain or just a few occasional stomach cramps, I put a hospital visit off for about 4 months.
If I had it treated when I first noticed the blood, I would probably have been cured within a few months, not the 3 years+whatever amount of time it will take.

Even if it is not ulcerative colitis, that much blood is not normal and should be checked by a doctor ASAP.

ANother source of information would be www.cancer.gov .  There are many symptoms n there, diagrams, explanations, and the standardized treatment regimens.  You can also look up the major clinics, such as Johns Hopkins and Mayo - I don't have their sites off hand but a google with colon cancer will get a list of them.

There is staging information, which is critical for treatment and prognosis.  Basically, they lay out the parameters for which stage it is, though you need more information than you have now, depending on spread, etc.  Please understand the meaning of "mean" as it pertains to statistics before you go looking up prognosis/survival percentages.  That's premature at this stage, but it must be said up front.

Good luck

And, I wish there were a cancer doc on here with whom I could share some info and get a bit more insight on staging/prognosis etc.  There are a lot of things I'd like to understand better.

Thanks for the replies, he is scared shitless(heh)and expects to find out about the insurance issue tomorrow

I think I will be able to convince him to go to the doctor next week, good coverage or not