Question: Hi! I am a 43 year old mom trying to figure out what to do! I had totally normal healthy regular bowel movements my entire life up until 6 moths ago. Everything changed...no longer regular, BMs are thin and the texture is like clay, the color changed to a brownish-yellow, there is almost always mucous...then I noticed blood and it's been there almost every single time since. I am exhausted and pale, the make-up I've been wearing for years is too dark now, that's how I noticed. My abdomen is tender to the touch and I often have abdominal pain (not cramps) and my abdomen feels hard. I called my Gastroenterologist (who did an endoscopy on me 6 moths ago and found nothing) and he wants me to make an appointment to see him sometime in the next 2 weeks before he starts any testing because he said I am young and because there are a lot of disorders that could cause these symptoms.
Should I wait to see him which means then I wait until I can schedule any tests, then wait for results and end up waiting maybe a month before I am diagnosed and treated?!? Are my symptoms severe enough that I should just go straight to the Emergency Room? Which is my best plan of action under the circumstances?
Thank you for your advice, I don't know what to do...so I end up doing nothing and I'm afraid that I am putting my health in serious jeopardy, and with 3 kiddos I don't have time to be laid up!!!