UOAA Discussion Board

I’m a paraplegic who had a Colonospsy 21 years ago (with a stump) The plan was for me to be able to reverse it in the future I chose not to No one discussed a stump so to my surprise after 10 years, I had a huge amount of brown smelling discharge for days We thought it was from a close wound till it happened when I was looking at it What followed was 6 enemas
Fast forward 10 years later and I think it’s happening again I had 0% discharge in the last 10 years I know as I wear a pad I do not use the toilet and do not bear down in the shower I SHOULD add that I had no warning or gradual discharge Just a huge spot on my pad My body was trying to let me know something was wrong and I’m thinking this might have been it
Soooooo Should I just let nature do it’s thing or go in for intervention (probably enemas) I’m in Canada with no family doctor (up to a 7+ year wait list) can’t do one myself as body dinamics and my size Can I get sick from this? My colostomy output is the same ,other than a couple weeks ago, there was a lot of mucus for A few bowel/bag movements then went back to normal Is it possible they’re related or a warning signal?
My town doctors had no idea last time

The condition is called diversion colitis. Basically, without your anorectal canal, your body starts to miss the healthy triple chain fatty acids found in stool because your fecal matter is diverted to your pouch and inflammation occurs. A good GI doctor or surgeon will know about this and be able to advise you. Generally they give you a sigmoidoscopy or examine your rectal stump to determine how serious the condition is.

When I would "leak" that foul smelling brown liquid, I also became very crampy. The amount of liquid increased and the area became inflamed so some blood would leak as well.

If you do a search on this website using words like "mucous discharge" or "diversion colitis," you'll see that others discuss it. Some have found ways to clean the mucous out with a procedure called lavage. That may be challenging for you. For years, I used a rectal tube to extract the mucous. I'd recommend you try that. Others try a suppository called Canasa or use a liquid called Rowasa.

This may sound extreme and I remember when a now-deceased, fabulous member up here, Terry from England, described his surgery to remove his anal canal which solved the problem. I never thought I'd do that. It's not an easy surgery and it's helpful to walk around to speed up healing but ask your doctors about it. I'm so glad I had it and the mucous discharge is gone.

I wish you much luck and relief.