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Posted 4/18/2017 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
  For the longest time I've had light to medium output color, but in the last week, it seems to be a darker color, is that normal?  I know when I eat Chocolate cake, it  will sometimes appear darker but I haven't had that for a few days?.    I'm having a normal out put if not too much, but I sometimes get this discomfort for whatever reason? 

Surgeon is planning on doing a reversal soon.  Don't know if I have enough energy yet, but he says my blood draws look good and I'm as ready as I will ever be?

Posted 4/18/2017 1:29 PM (GMT 0)
have you taken any new supplements? Iron maybe? I know it doesn't take much to alter the color of stool. I know if I have one bottle of purple gatorade my stool is instantly green.
Posted 4/19/2017 2:40 AM (GMT 0)
Dorri,

Sometimes green beans, zuchinni and/or beef make my output really really dark... First time it happened I knew it was bad so I drove almost 2 hours one way to get it looked at by my colorectal surgeon, GI and stoma nurse.

I am not making light just sharing a "Clo at her best moment"..

I don't usually panic like that...usually I take a few days to work myself up to a telephone call but this time.... I kept feeling something different in there, discomfort, then increased output with it getting darker and ....just more...and more over those 36 hours until it was the darkest I had ever seen and the bag filled completely up at one time. Next thing I remember I had panicked and driven to town....(hey it was a Friday and I was trying to avoid the ER)....and my doctors were shaking their heads and patting my knee while I yanked my bag off to show them what Fred was up to....TaDa ... (Like I was some champion fighter or something)

And Fred had gone silent with all the evidence flushed because I had to make a two hour drive.....

That's when I heard what they had been trying to tell me...beef and green beans or zuchinni will do that to you and Freddie would not misbehave if I just took control...

The last part isn't quite right...Freddie still makes interesting colors even when they are supposed to be "normal."

I hope I made you laugh or smile.

Gosh you sound like you are doing better.

The discomfort could be a little piece of something that could be putting pressure on some point or it could be just alittle trapped gas....or could it be one of those pinchy healing pains???. I don't know...but if your GI/Colorectal surgeon have completed any tests recently they should be able to reassure you.

A reconnect...???? Oh Dorri how exciting for you to have a choice.....to have this opportunity!!! I am so happy for you!!

Please let us know how it goes.

Clo
Posted 4/19/2017 3:45 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks blk steeda, no supplements but I now remember I was eating chocolate covered whoppers, lol. maybe that did it.

Hi Clo. you did make me laugh, how are you doing? I did have beef a day or 2 before, which makes no sense since most things run through me? Must have been those whoppers. I had beef again today, so will see what tomorrow brings?

As for my upcoming reversal, I will let you know when it happens and how it goes? I am grateful that I do have a choice. I am hoping that the resection site reversal will keep in remission and the crohn's won't rear it's ugly head again? You know even though I have the ileostomy, I can still feel pressure and burning pain in my rectum, until I'm able to relieve it by expelling a bit of gas, and sometimes a tiny bit of mucous which sometimes looks like a tiny bit of stool, but that is far and in between?
Clo, if you don't mind me asking, do you have a temporary or permanent bag? Do you find the crohn's is under control since you've gotten the bag?

Thanks.
Posted 4/19/2017 4:37 AM (GMT 0)
I have a temporary bag. I also have an aggressive form of fistulizing Crohns so that temp may become permanent. My GI stated he has never seen a case as bad as mine, he has also said he has never seen someone come back to the place I am now at....so he is very optimistic. And I am a type A personality. Have a person I really like and respect give me a goal and I am determined to reach it. My greatest strength and weakness. I fear I will go down a path to please others when I shouldn't have and that I will compound that error thru sheer stubbornness while matters deteriorate. Lol....

I haven't had any new abscesses or new fistulas with the bag-but the ones I had have not healed either. I am dealing with the bag better but sometimes the whole thing just freaks me out. Usually I sleep all the time, my memory has deteriorated. I just take it a day at a time. Sometimes its sorts nice to not have clear memories of the previous day. Thank goodness for me spouse. He helps me so much.

The periodic burning and expelling....oh another Clo at her finest moments. Yep I have had that happen. Once a week or more if my Remicade isn't working..... GI, colorectal surgeon AND stoma nurse had to verify that was normal. Lol. Your remaining rectum continues to make mucus and that will come out-sometimes it looks like mucus and other times it looks like stool...

I have discovered that the bag has made my some of my symptoms more controllable...the urgency, the accidents, and sometimes I think I am getting alittle better.

We are going in for a look in May or June. Then we are making a game plan on fixing my fistulas and once they heal my GI wants to reconnect. My colorectal shakes his head in a "no" motion when that happens but only pats my knee and asks what I want. They are unable to tell me if I would go back to being on the toilet 8-14 hours a day so, for me, going back to a similar scenario is unacceptable. I get so confused and feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

For me with the colostomy....in the last 8 weeks....when my stoma has to pass gas or stool...my rectum starts contracting....like it knows its time to go. So so weird. And if the stoma touches the pouch I feel it-yet the docs swear there aren't any nerve endings.....hmmmmmm?

So glad to hear from you! Please stay in touch.

Clo
Posted 4/19/2017 5:58 AM (GMT 0)
Clo, you have had your share of problems with the crohn's and worse. I ended up with lots of pain, fissures and obstructions but my first surgery brought me years of remission, hope my insides are healing good this time around and there is no leaks or excess scar tissue and adhesion's, because I do not want to go back to square one, I'm so tired, I need a break. I admire your determination, you sound like you are certainly going in the right direction? I was doing good after the 2 surgeries but went down hill after that?. My recovery has been so slow this time around, but the surgeon said it's because I went through so much in Dec. I'm not convinced, I still think it's the dehydration and the low blood pressure, The doctor is also blaming the high out put on my problem.
On some days, I almost feel normal, so that is a start, just taking me longer to get there.

Oh, I do understand about making the decision whether to have the bag reversed, it's a hard one and a bit of a stress but if we don't try that option if it's open to us, we will never know? You know the way I see it, it will be a blessing to have that happen, and if things get bad again, well, I'm sure they will put the bag back again, right?

Funny, you should mention memory, think mine is worse as well since the last surgeries? I read recently about the possible side effects of anesthetic causing memory loss, think it was mentioning brain cell damage, but they did say after some time, the cells would be restored. That should make us feel better?.
LoL, forgot where I read that?. turn
Take good care of yourself and hope everything works out for you. (Hugs)
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