My son, who not only has an ileostomy but is also in a wheelchair (he has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) and has intellectual disabilities, had his ileostomy surgery almost 5 years ago. For the last several months, he has had poop in his pants daily. I'm not talking about mucus, I mean actual poop. Anyone else dealing with this? I can't imagine this is normal. The doctor said it is "shedding"... I refuse to believe it is only this.
Thoughts and/or feedback appreciated.
Hi TylerJoe,
Assuming your doctor knows what he's talking about... and I hate to assume... did you ask him why it's happening now? I mean, intestinal epithelial cell shedding is a real thing, but something needs to trigger it for it to increase in rate. And from what you're saying, I don't think our bowels can shed those cells that fast and in that quantity to have it show up as bowel output every day. Something sounds amiss, although there's not a lot of info out there on intestinal epithelial cell shedding. And that's because it has to be observed in a living intestine, which is a bit hard to do. I wouldn't hesitate to get a second or third opinion on this one... and have whatever is showing up in his pants analyzed to determine if it is in fact dead intestinal epithelial cells. I mean, if it is... something is triggering it. Could be a change in meds or stress, or something that causes a large increase in TNF. I'd say give the Gastro department at UVa and/or Duke a call and see what they say. If they're stumped, up the game to the Cleveland Clinic and/or Mayo. And let us know how you make out... sorry I can't be of more help... this one is a puzzler.
;O)
bob
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This site is a godsend. As a newbie (colostomy on Nov 8, '21), I look at it every day for a number of reasons. Reading what people are going through makes me grateful that my elective surgery because of a severe case of IBS-C is nothing compared to what they have been through and are still living with.
I don't have to go to the hospital for anything related to my ostomy. I feel sorry for those who do and am in awe of those who can use humor to describe their ordeal. I identify with those who express their fears. I especially identify with those who are depressed because I am clinically depressed and have general anxiety disorder. How ironic that having a colostomy eliminated some of the depression and anxiety that the IBS created. I've been widowed twice and I'm on match.com.
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And there is much humor on this site and it's one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.
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It's not that I don't like these people; I do. It's that I think it elicits some "Facebook"-like banter or comments that are gratuitous.
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Puzzler it may be, but your reply was very interesting and informative. Thanks. I have already learned something new today!
Best wishes
Bill
