Ostomy people...gross question

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kristasplace
kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I have talked to my onc about a worry of mine, and he said he would talk to my surgeon about it, but i don't know if he has, and i'm a little worried. I have an ileostomy for almost five months now. Nine days out of surgery, i could feel things moving in my intestines, and then tons of blood and mucous came out for several days. I knew stuff would come out, and i know i lost a lot of blood during surgery, so i found out that this was okay, and it eventually stopped. Once in a while i would pass pink mucous only. Since i started my adjuvant chemo two months ago, i began passing things that actually look like turds. Sometimes the toilet paper is drenched with a greenish black sludge that looks like an oil spill. The onc says i should not be passing stools because the intestines are disconnected, and that it's possible that i'm passing left over waste from when i was connected. This worries me! Is there waste inside me rotting away my intestines??? I mean the surgery was five months ago! Also there is gas that comes with it sometimes, and there is an urgency to go that keeps me up at night. I need to know if anyone else has gone through this, and is it normal?

Any info would be soooo appreciated.

Many hugs!!
Krista

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  • cal79
    cal79 Member Posts: 57
    #2
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    If you have a temporary loop ileostomy then some overflow is not uncommon as the bowel has not been permanently disconnected. Some fecal matter can flow over from the incision in the small bowel and is then passed via the rectum. However, if you have new symptoms or something you are concerned about, always talk to your surgeon. Hope all goes well. Cal :)
  • kristasplace
    kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
    #3
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    cal79 said:

    If you have a temporary loop ileostomy then some overflow is not uncommon as the bowel has not been permanently disconnected. Some fecal matter can flow over from the incision in the small bowel and is then passed via the rectum. However, if you have new symptoms or something you are concerned about, always talk to your surgeon. Hope all goes well. Cal :)

    Oh my God!! Thank you so much, Cal! I actually asked my doctor if that could happen because i am on a loop, and he said it was very unlikely. Of course, he is just a med onc, and probably didn't know. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I was so worried something was wrong. Now i can relax a little.

    Many hugs!
    Krista
  • Coloradian
    Coloradian Member Posts: 8
    #4
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    I also had a ileostomy for 6 months and yes my surgeon told me that I would pass some stool every once in a while as some fecal matter does pass thru the rest of the GI tract. He told me that if I was very concerned I could give myself an enema every month. I didn't need to do it. I felt that some evacuation thru the rectum area was good in the sense the GI tract was doing it'd job and do when I had my reversal I would have fewer issues.

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