Hello Scotspilgrim.
Welcome to the site where I feel sure you will glean lots of useful information.
You don't say how long you have have your colostomy. There is often blood in the mucus in the early days/months after the operation. Sometimes this has coagulated and becomes brown, which is mistaken for faeces, sometimes it is still the colour of blood.
It took me over a year to have the mucus come out clear and lacking in the putrid smell of those early days.
From the outset, I would write rhymes to capture my concerns about most things in life (including stoma issues) so I'll resurrect and share a couple from those early days.
I should perhaps say that most of my concerns were ill-founded and eventually resolve themselves. Nonetheless, it is sometimes useful for 'newbies' to know that they are not alone in being concerned about these things.
Best wishes
Bill
A BLEEDING PAIN IN THE BUM.
So now I have a conundrum
as I am bleeding from my bum.
That’s not how it’s supposed to be
since I’ve had an ostomy.
Once a long, long time ago
I used to bleed each time I’d go.
But since I had my ostomy
all that bleeding stopped for me.
I raised my arms in jubilation
when I had my operation.
I thought that all my pain had gone
and from my bum the sunshine shone.
I thought that I was freed from pain
but now it’s coming back again.
Now I have an apprehension
that this thing will need attention.
This type of thing you can’t avoid
if you have burst a haemorrhoid.
I do not like the thought of this
that I should bleed each time I piss.
I can say that I was shocked
and my little world was rocked.
What could I have done instead
to stop my bum from running red.
I always thought that it was sad
that I still had to wear a pad.
But now I think it’s just as well
for with my blood it now does swell.
I hope that it will not last long
and perhaps there’s nothing wrong.
There’s nothing in that passageway
so maybe it will go away.
B. Withers 2012
RECTAL STUMP MUCUS.
If there’s one thing’ gives me the hump
it’s mucus from my rectal stump.
They did not tell me this would be
a side–effect of ostomy.
With no faeces coming through
no way did I expect this goo.
It is so inconvenient
that I am still incontinent.
I thought that this would be all cured
once my ostomy matured.
However, it’s not gone away
and I fear it’s here to stay.
Sometimes brown and sometimes white
but mixed with blood is never right.
Then there’s yellow and there’s cream
which will flood out like a stream.
Sometimes it’s soft and sometimes hard
sometimes it’s slippery just like lard.
Occasionally I’ll get a chunk
but mostly it will look like gunk.
The mucus used to irritate
and refused to irrigate.
That method didn’t work so well
although it minimised smell.
When I reflect I must admit
sometimes I get fed up with it.
For I was not expecting this
every time I have a piss.
With both a plug and inco’ pad
you’d think it would not feel so bad.
But I still moan and I will grump
about the mucus from my stump.
B. Withers 2012
(In: My Ostomy World Trilogy 2014)
