UOAA Discussion Board

I am bleeding this morning where the skin meets the stoma. A small bit of blood from the stoma itself while cleaning up wouldn't bother me, but it appears that the skin may have detached from part of the stoma (of course this happens to me on a Sunday morning . . . no one I can contact for assistance unless I go to the emergency room at the same hospital that wanted to "blow that blockage out of my colon" and instead created a tear in my colon from the pressure created by the calcium citrate).

There was enough blood this morning that it was running down my belly in large drops and onto the changing pad while I was changing my appliance. The blood first appeared while I was cleaning the area before replacing. I was very delicate as always, no scrubbing or anything. The bleeding did stop, but it definitely has me worried.

Don't know whether it is something that I actually do need to go to emergency room for or not (yes, I apparently I am stupid -- not born knowing from birth what is or is not normal for this thing). I cannot contact doctors or nurses involved with my care right now because it is a Sunday morning. The hospital where I receive treatment for my cancer is over 100 miles away. I could post to "my chart" but no one will see it until tomorrow anyhow.

First time anything like this has happened since my ileostomy was placed back on January 15, 2021.

Do I need to be worried, or am I overly concerned again due to ignorance?

Hello.
If this was happening to me I'd keep an eye on it until I could call my surgeon Monday.
Reason being.
If I go to the er they always put me in the hospital. Every time I've gone to the er they have done it.
So I personally would wait until Monday. They may tell you to go to the er anyway.
But it's good it stopped.
I would be able to tell if it were my stoma or a tearing away. Should be able to.
I know you said you did no heave scrubbing around it. But you know just touching it sometimes will leave blood on your finger.
What I would be thinking about is how the blood ran down and puddled.
Mine has never done that. I just changed and drew some blood as usual working around it. But nothing that ran down.
I hope it's nothing. Bad enough to (not really bad) but to have things go wrong.
Hope it's something simple.
Good luck. Keep an eye on it. And let us know..
Richard.
(I am pretty sure I wasn't much help. But I wanted to acknowledge you post.)

In the hospital getting antibiotics. No one addressing the tear, just padding insurance check, I guess.

They did 2 ct scans (makes sense) and some chest x-rays (no where near ileostomy) as well.

Dr. seems to think barrierr ring is magical and holds everything away from stoma, but in my case it doesn't . . . it is more like a slow burning fuse that allows seepage all the way around the stoma.

Very worried about going scaptic. Been hurting in abdomen off and on all day. The pain just isn't close to stoma. I hav been running a fever all day.

Should I let them continue same course, or should I seek a transfer to another facility?

I'm sorry you're having trouble.
Fever and stomach pain aren't fun.

Have you seen a Gastroenterologist? How about a colo-rectal surgeon?

Forgot to post when I got answer from Primary Care Physician, so here goes his explanation:

My chemo (irinotecan/5fu/leucovorin) effectively thins the blood by reducing platelets. He assures me that was what caused the bleeding. He examined closely and could not find any tears or separations around stoma.

He kinda thinks I saw a tear because I expected to see one. Anyhow, no more bleeding, no infection.

Dijenga, I believe the PCP is right about your chemo allowing more bleeding. But maybe you are cutting the barrier too close to your stoma. If the stoma swells, the barrier edge may cut into the stoma and cause bleeding. It's better to have a slightly bigger gap and have that gap filled by the barrier ring, which is softer and much less likely to damage the stoma.