Her daughter and two sons including my dad died from cancer. Different types but still. She’s losing blood and the Dr thinks it maybe bowel cancer. She’s got an incontinence problem we’ve never seen blood. Could the Dr be right ?
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Unfortunately it is possible. The risk of cancer increases with age. Bowel cancer is also a very common form of cancer and is often diagnosed in the elderly. In Australia, they recommend a colonoscopy every 4 years and they do a faecal specimen test every couple of years which is managed by the government. The reason is that it is such a preventable form of cancer and very treatable if caught early enough. Trouble is, there are usually no symptoms that you have bowel cancer in the early stages. It is only in the late stages that you may begin exhibiting symptoms. Loss of blood in the faeces is often a sign. They will probably do 3 faecal occult blood tests to determine if there is a prescence of blood in the stool. Sometimes blood in the stool is frank (as in bright red and very noticable), and sometimes it isn’t (often the stool is quite dark in appearance if the cancer is further up in the bowel). If it is positive, they may order scans…a colonoscopy may also be done but it honestly depends on the person’s general health. If whoever you are talking about is very frail in health, they may just opt for palliative treatment only rather than putting them through a plethora of invasive tests.
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I also am thinking if it would be wise to put her through things like chemo at 96 
If bowel cancer is confirmed, in most people they’ll opt for surgery and cut out the area of bowel that is affected. The person will either have the two bits of bowel reattached or they’ll have a colostomy bag. They then would undergo chemotherapy. All this is pretty hard core for a 96 year old. They don’t generally go down this route because the chances are high that they’ll die during the surgery or during chemo. They generally opt for the palliative route. They will offer medication that will manage pain, nausea and agitation. They will be referred to a palliative specialist who will keep in touch with them and review them regularly, making sure they are always comfortable.
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