I had a small amount of rectal bleeding for 2 months. I finally made an appointment with the gastroenterologist and she ordered a colonoscopy. She told me most likely I had internal hemorrhoids but she wanted to check. I woke up from anesthesia to the doctor telling me I had cancer. My husband was by my side and asked the doctor to repeat it three times! It felt so surreal. They immediately did a CT scan and found the tumor had grown through the rectum and was in three lymph nodes.