STOOL sample.. Really?

"Oh, so you got a treat bag" LOL. This was my experience after my last sig scope this week. Initially I was suppose to get a sample on the same day I was doing prep. REALLY? Whoever came up with that idea was not the smartest. I got a brown bag full of toys to leave the hospital with.

Done many stool samples and I think i have collected them in many different ways. You get the brown bag special with this white piece of plastic you sit over the toilet and your speciman cup. I think I'll wear the white plastic piece as a hat next time I collect a sample. Again, we need something better than this thing, lol. I can fill that thing up in under 60 seconds. Maybe I'll just put some cold water in it and splash it on my face as I am sweating trying to figure out if I can catch some poo midstream? Should we fill this white thing up and sit there and look at it while we finish (This may be a whole other hour).

Whats your best tricks? lol

I had to get 3 speciman in 24 hours. I didn't think it would be possible bc I only go once a day but somehow it happened to be a day wehre i went 3 times. It said they only need a walnut sized poo (sorry to turn you off to walnuts). One of my cups had the walnut but, I figured it was better than nothing. I was not in a terrible flare at the time of my stool tests so it wasn't too difficult but of course it wasn't pretty either. I just put the little cup directly under my ass and pushed a little out. I didn't use the white bowl thing because I didn't want to put it in the trash dirty and of course I wasn't going to clean it out. I think the baggie idea is probably a good one, at least you can seal that and dispose of it. The worst is driving around with the thing in your car, I felt like I could get pulled over and I would have to explain the bag of doo. I also felt like some kind of weirdo passing the doobag to the receptionist. I wanted to get rid of it asap.

Before I was diagnosed, I had to do a million tests, including stool samples.  I did two tests at the same time:  one to look for parasites, the other to look for "hidden" (occult) blood.  I thought that was pretty crazy, since there was nothing hidden about it, the blood was right there plain to see everytime I went to the toilet.  Oh well, I dutifully went through the motions.

 

The hardest part I had was collecting a sample of stool at all.  I wasn't having anything remotely resembling a stool at that time, it was all bloody mush.  Finally I was fed up and just took a sample of the mush.  What I had to do was collect it, and using a stick provided, scoop up a bit and put it into a vial containing liquid of some kind, shake it up.  So I figured it didn't matter a whole lot if it came from a solid specimen or mush.

 

The parasite test came back negative, but I'll never forget my doctor telling me in a hushed, solemn voice "They found blood in your stool".  NO KIDDING.     I did tell her during my initial visit that I had visible blood with bowel movements.  Oh well, if that's what it took for her to take it seriously, then I guess it was worth doing it.