Hi folks,
I had emergency stoma surgery at the end of June due to a leak in my bowel following resection the previous month, which resulted in sepsis. This was all in response to a cancerous tumor.
They gave me a rectal drain into the bowel during the stoma surgery, which I still have. It has about 10mls coming out of it every 5 days, so they are reluctant to remove it in case fluid pools in my bowel and causes another infection. I've recently been hospitalized with a second bout of sepsis and in the past few weeks, the drain has become very painful. I feel like my body is rejecting it and trying to push it out. I have constant pain internally and can feel its presence all the time. It's stopping me from sleeping, and I'm tired and cranky all the time. I'm taking over-the-counter codeine meds to manage the pain at the moment. They repositioned the drain during my last hospital stay and said that there was fibrosis around the top of the drain. The manipulation has made the pain and discomfort worse. I'm at my wits' end. There is no angle I can secure it that seems to be comfortable, and it seems to be pressing on painful spots all the time, causing spasms, shooting nerve pains, and a general ache. I'm unable to walk properly with it in place, and I'm worried about my muscle fitness as I'm starting chemo in a few weeks. Sorry for such a long post, but I would love to know if anyone has experience of anything similar and might have some advice. I'm struggling to deal with this.
Thank you
Kazzikat
