Posted 4/15/2012 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
OK, am trying to get ALL my questions ready for my next appt with the GI who helped me last weekend with my "non-fixed sbo" (meaning no mechanical cause) AND negative on gastroparesis test.........this guy is all good in trying to figure out a complex case. Am trying to get my questions in gear but not overwhelm him as he is my "go to" doc at this point.
Question: MOST ileostomates don't have their colons because they had them removed due to a disease. I had no disease. My ileo was due to gut scarring/injury from a GYN surgery at a different hospital.
So other than needing occasional rectal mucous suctioning done to get mucous out I could not expell on my own I haven't had (to my knowledge any issue with the retained unused colon.)
While in the hospital, got my results from the CT scan I had the week prior when I was not feeling that great. I have an inflamed cecum, with much mucous accumulation in the proximal (first) part of my colon (the cecum). Also to my surprise was some retained STOOL that apparently has been sitting there for 4 and a half years. WIth some note about inflammatory/infectious changes. Part of my issue aside from the whole mystery small bowel obstruction from unknown cause, is that I have this real heaviness in my whole right side. No peristomal hernia. No Gastroparesis. A friend of mine's doc said he would take her colon out when he did her permanent ileostomy (mine permanent too) because he told her she could get a mucous perforation high up in her colon if he did not take it out.
This was never mentioned to me and my original ileo surgeon had his hands full with all my small bowel adhesions and it took him 4 hours to free those up and do my stoma, plus I THINK he left my colon in me because MAYBE taking it out would have caused more adhesions OR it may serve as support structure for small bowel???? not sure on this, but I trusted him and am positive he did what was best at the time.
HOWEVER, my current ileo surgeon who basically does not want to deal with me any more because I kept after him to do the CT scan as I knew I was falling into trouble, did write on his office note that there was this inflammed/?infected area in cecum with old stool and much mucous BUT that he would not be following up on that because I presented with no tenderness in that area and no fever.
I THINK the cecum is in the lower right of the abdomen; true I don't have specific tenderness there, BUT If some threat of infection, my white count was up with sbo but maybe it goes up anyway with an sbo???? My line of thought is maybe I could ask the GI who is helping me if it would be safe to do a colonoscopy in an unused colon and suction all that mucous and old stool out of there. My thought is why let it turn into an issue if It is not already contributing to my current pain in right side.
Plus, If the cecum ever does perforate due to the mucous accumulation, because I have old stool in there, this could cause peritonitis if that went into the abdominal cavity.
So do any of you have retained colons unused but have an ileostomy? ANd is it safe to have a colonoscopy to suction all that crud out of my unused colon?
One of the surgical residents who seemed really with it during my hospital stay asked if I ever have had a recent colonoscopy and I said not since before the ileo way back in 2006. So I gathered from that that one COULD be done. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks, Rosemary