To the ladies

     How soon after your operation did you go to your gyn doctor?  I am having bleeding from the vagina and  some days a yellowish discharge.  I saw my surgeon three weeks ago (prior to the bleeding, but I was having discharge) and he said it was too soon after my surgery to have a PAP smear.  I started bleeding last Wed and now I am really scared.  I have an appointment with a new gyn doctor tomorrow and another appointment with my surgeon on Wed.  I  am sooo upset over this.  I haven't had my period since 1990 and have never had any problems prior to this surgery.

     I figured I would just tell the gyn doctor tomorrow.  They have to get to the bottom of this.  The day I came home from the hospital  foul smelling stuff just came gushing out of my vagina but the surgeon said it was most likely from my anus because he left that intact.  Well, I know my anus from my vagina!  Anyway, for a few days after that, a pinkish discharge (looked like the stuff from the JP tube which was taken out of my stomach about a week before that) was coming out of my vagina.  My surgeon's assistant ordered a urine specimen which had some white cells in it, so he gave me a script for Macrobid (antibiotic) for seven days.  It cleared up but after a few weeks I started with a yellowish discharge.  Then the doctor gave me a script for Diflucan, which was only one pill.  Things were ok for awhile.  I did a lot of walking one day and the following day the discharge came back and now the bleeding. 

     My GI doctor ordered a CT scan of the abdomen and pelvic area back in March.  I have no idea why he ordered this...maybe to rule out a mass because of the recurring ulcerative proctitis.  He never told me the results, but I would imagine if anything were amiss he would have notified me.  I am having the radiologist fax the results over to the gyn office for my visit tomorrow and believe me....if that CT scan showed anything wrong and my GI never told me....he'll hear from my lawyer!  My GI doctor was very upset about my decision to have surgery.  He really thought he was GOD.

     Rosemary...my gyn appointment is for tomorrow morning at 11:30 am.  That is really soon.  This doctor had a cancellation and the receptionist called me ASAP. 

     A fistula???  Would that cause bleeding from the vagina??

wow, something is deffinitly wrong over there. i've heard that sometimes when they remove the rectum in women, it can cause a perforation of the vaginal wall..? could it be that?

oh no, there's no reason to think of the worst, Christine, you have no history of cancer, right? so please don't put ideas like that in your head. i think that a u.s of the pelvic should help reviel a perforation/fistula, and if not a u.s, then maybe a ct/mri.. i'm not sure. anyways, i'm glad you're seeing the surgoen on Wed too, i'm sure he'll do whatever it takes to find out what is it exactly, but if he doesn't suggest the tests, then you insist on having them. a u.s is simple and harmless, at least as far as i know. don't leave his office w/o a refferal to some tests.

I might have missed something obvious, Christine, but do you still have a uterus? US would show if you might have pyometra, an infection within the uterus. If you've had a hysto, then a fistula seems possible.

Keep breathing, my friend! And I'll be thinking of you for your appt tomorrow.

No Chirs, The outside stitch popping is no big deal happens all the time.

It wasn't fissure sue and I were guessing it was Fistula. Whole different issue. I have never had a fistula but I believe it is an opening between the vagina and the rectum. As you have an ileostomy you would not have poop going from the rectum through the wall that separates the rectum from the vagina. But some people who have any surgery done on the rectum, the wall between the rectum and the vagina can develop a hole in it called a fistula. Google fistula, but this is my understanding of it. I think Sue and I were guessing that is where your vaginal bleeding might be coming from.

So tomorrow ask your GYN if you have a Fistula. I have no idea what they do for this or if it just heals. I do know someone who had a rectocele fixed (pouch that trapped stool between the vagina and rectum) and she developed a fistula. So she had a temp colostomy while it healed so I think it just healed itself. You already have an ileostomy so at least poop won't be an issue down there. Let us know how it goes. Glad your appointment is tomorrow. Hang in. Some of these complications are not as bad as they seem though I fully understand why you are concerned. Who wouldn't be? Thinking of you, Sincerely, Rosemary

Fistulas can be repaired a couple of different ways but from what I read and what my surgeon told me, the repairs are often not successful. They can heal on their own. I was very lucky that mine did heal on its own after we put in another ostomy. I had my fistula after my first takedown, so it was incredibly painful. I had constant output going straight through to the vagina. It burned like crazy and was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. Since you don't have rectal output, you aren't experiencing that (if it is a fistula). My fistula could not be seen on the x-ray or when my surgeon went in to do the ostomy surgery. It was incredibly tiny--like the size of a pin. It's crazy how something so small could leak so much fluid. It was likely caused by a suture breaking through the wall between the "rectum" and the vagina

     Went to the gyn doctor.  He did not see any abnormalities, but was not able to perform a PAP smear because I was too uptight..lol.  No kiddin?  It was very painful, guess I am pretty dry up there .  He is sending me for an ultrasound next Friday, also a Mammogram since I didn't have one for over a year.  This was my first visit to his office, young guy and very very caring.  He didn't mention a fistula.  He gave me a script for some kind of gel...forget the name offhand.

     Tomorrow I see my surgeon and will ask him why he never sewed my anus shut, if I am able now to get that PAP smear and why he thinks I am bleeding from the vagina.  Also about fisulas.  Once I get some peace of mind about all this I will feel sooo much better.

     My appetite is great, my stoma is working like a charm and I thank GOD for that.

Hi Chris,

Glad you are feeling overall better re the stoma etc. The other answers will come. It could just be dry tissue up the vagina. That may be what the gel is for. I remember my mom had to put some kind of estrogen cream up there to keep tissues moist. I may need that soon too. Rosemary