Bowel Movements with an Ostomy

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Grammybec

I had a colostomy in March of this year and am still trying to get used to it. I have been having small bowel movements rectally. At the beginning, they said it was normal, as the intestine was healing and once in a while stool would be released into the rectum. It is still going on and some days it is actually quite a bit... at least I think it is. It doesn't happen every day, but it happens at least once or twice a week and some days more than once. Have any of you experienced this? If so, do you know if it is normal and how long it will continue?

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swiffer

I did not know that was possible. Did you have a reversible colostomy? I had a permanent one, so no rectum anymore. I will be looking for someone to answer your question. Very interesting. Hope all is going well otherwise.

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lottagelady
Hi there - yes, it is possible!

I have a loop ileostomy and often have bowel movements, and have had them for about 6 years now.

The problem is, I have also been constipated in my colon beyond my stoma for months on end, which doesn't make you feel particularly good - but since I had a 'clear out' in April by putting a glycerine suppository down the loop end of the stoma, I have bowel movements regularly now as I have upped my fiber big time and seem to be able to tolerate it okay. My other problem is that it also comes out of my fistula at the same time .... ho hum, ugh!
Rach
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Rach, I am sorry you are still having to go through so much suffering, you seem to handle it better than most. I am not sure anymore how strong I could be in that situation. Anyway, I also wanted to thank you for trying to help not let me get any more upset. I do get hurt when people start rumors and they know nothing about me. I love my boys and I love my black one as much as my white one, and the funny thing is that you don't see color, you see kindness and love. I also don't like anyone pushing me up against a wall on my own political beliefs. If people knew that what they said to other people on chat to hurt someone they don't know, then that other person pushes them up against a wall, that is cruel and that is nothing I want to be a part of. I vomited so much yesterday that I thought I was going to be in a hospital, and my friend Jo Jo did finally get out of the hospital. But my head hurt so much that I can't hardly remember what she said. I just want you to know that I have no hard feelings for you and only kind thoughts, and you are always here when someone needs advice. Thank you for all the good things you do to help us, and also thank you for not making fun of how we live our lives or how we believe. I want to keep my freedoms in the US, and I will fight tooth and nail for that right. God bless you and take care of you, and I promise if I could take your pain for a while I would, but right now I don't know how much more of my own I can handle. See ya, Jenny

Pinky

Hi Grammy - I still have a small portion of my rectum, but since this permanent colostomy, the only thing coming out of it is mucus and sometimes some bleeding. I would be concerned that true BM coming through might indicate a leakage. Better check with your surgeon.

 
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elli bean

I have a transverse loop colostomy (due to a large abscess, ruptures, and a very persistent pseudoobstruction) since the end of April now, and I have had a couple of bowel movements since then from my rectum. One of them I know was not residual because it contained some undigested food of a sort that I did not eat before having this colostomy. I told my colorectal surgeon, he asked if it was frequent, and I told him it was not, along with what I mentioned about the undigested food, and he just made a note, smiled, and said "Welp, better call Ripley's." I really was not sure what to make of that. On one hand, I could see he was not concerned, but it didn't explain anything to me, and as I was a bit taken aback and he had more questions on his list, I didn't pursue it. Now I just have occasional blood (had that before in huge amounts, without any hemorrhoids). Now I do have hemorrhoids aplenty (I'm 8 and a half months pregnant ATM), and a lot of very thin, greenish-yellow foul-smelling mucus (so gross, I know) that disappeared for a while and came back. The doctor said that is from abscess draining (3 months seems to me like a long time for an abscess to drain, especially after they have done a lavage, and it stopped and started again...confused). But I cannot see how it can be normal or even possible for rectal BMs to happen unless a fistula forms, connecting the proximal to the distal section of the bowel...which I take would not be good at all given that there are reasons the distal section is being rested/not used.

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