ugh. as if there isn't enough i have to deal with.
today, for apparently no reason at all, i went to empty my pouch at work, and it all came out red/brown (emphasis on the RED)
blatantly obvious that it was blood. I had only eaten a tuna sandwich that day, so there was no food that may have had red die or something.
i had emptied two times already that day and it wasn't anything stand out. its not black, so i know it's not from the stomach. it's gotta be from the intestine. i'd assume from the pouch specifically. can it just be inflammed and sloughing off a layer of bloody inflamation?
i have a hemocult test and when i got home i emptied and tested (for kicks n giggles even though i already knew.) and of course it was positive.
talked to my mom, decided to call doc in morning, as opposed to now. cuz...well...what are they gonna do, tell me to go to the ER? eh. I feel just fine. i'll wait.
i'm not overly tired. not sore. not crampy. i'm just as i was.
so, for now i'll just brainstorm til morning. what is going on in my intestines?!?

uuuuggghhhh....

Becca,
Are you sure you didn't drink something that could have turned red? Blue gatorade does that too.
Just a thought.
Let us know.
I know how you are feeling at this point and I know compound issues don't help.
Thinking of you.

positive.
as i'm sure most all of you are sorta subconciously aware at all times what we're eating.
yesterday, in order, i had a large iced latte, a hashbrown with ketchup (but uh...not THAT much ketchup. one packet. i've ingested way omre than that before) a tuna sub with mustard and avocado.
then i emptied and got the red. i already tested it with a hemoccult test, it's definitley blood.

called stoma nurses at cleveland, and my oncologist. waiting on call backs from both.

uuuggghhhh....
(on a side note though, i still feel absolutely fine. but i'm unnerved as hell to empty the pouch, it's really kinda creepy to see the red. right not it's not as red, it's much darker, but it still has the blood in it. i'm positive.

it was a longshot that maybe you drank something the precious day.
i am sorry.
chris ate red velvet cake the other night
well, long story short
red-ew!

Becca,
I'm hoping that it is some irritation that you will not see after a day or two.
Having said that, you've already contacted the medical who's who....so I hope you hear back soon.
You are one tough cookie

Hey Becca,

Not sure if you remember, but the same thing happened to me some time back. I know that we had the surgeries around the same time and you would think we would have fully healed by now. I still get occassional spotting of blood. I have on two seperate occassions had alot of bleeding that lasted for two or three days. Its probably something you want to get checked out, but when I went to see Fazio about it, he said that I had just irritated some staples while intubating. So keep an eye on it or call to make sure, but I wouldnt be surprised if you did the same thing.

Mike S

My husband has a somewhat recent k-pouch (3 months old now?) A week or so ago he called me in to the bathroom to ask if that was blood in the toilet (he is color blind and often can't tell brown from red). It was bright red, and appeared to be quite a bit, although we all know it looks like more when in water. I remembered he had ordered a new/different type of catheter and asked him if by chance he had just tried it for the first time and he said yes. I figured he may have just poked too hard/the wrong way and irritated the lining. We decided to wait and see if there was any more blood next intubation and there wasn't, so we didn't call the doc (no blood since). My guess is that one can probably scrape and cause bleeding just like with any part of the body. But I think it's good that you called your doc.

Holly - that's a great point about drinking or eating something red; thanks for the tip!

i think we came to the conclusion that it was irritation in the pouch due to the chemo. the bloody looking output continued for several days. but i never felt weak or without energy, and my onc. said to just keep an eye on it and if anything changes we'll do something, but outside of that, i just rode it out.
i have my little test here so i could test it every so often and i think now it's pretty much stopped.
i hated seeing red all the time though. it's quite unnerving.
just thought i'd update you all.
i;m feeling pretty damned good right now. all weekend, i partied, and socialized, and chilled and hung out. i was at like 19 diff things
(comedy show, night club. house party all on friday. street fest, farmers market, bbq at friends house all on saturday, and fundraiser for friends charity tonight. i hit a girl on a bike the other day with my car too...that was fun.)

either way, whole point is, i've been soaking up all i can of summer in the city and thoroughly enjoying it!

surgery is looming soon, but til that day, i'll be enjoying as much of life as i can