I have had an ileostomy for a year. And I have been having blood and mucous from my rectum for about six months. My surgeon says its fine but I can only talk to his office over the phone because he is three hours away. I don't see how it can be normal, since it causes urgency and cramping pain and it seems like lots of blood. It sucks to still have to run to the bathroom when that was the whole reason of getting the ileostomy in the first place. Has anyone had this problem or have any insight?

My first question to you is do you still have your rectum or is this a defunctioned j-pouch (with a diverting ileostomy)?

If you still have your rectum, the blood you are seeing is due to continued inflammation in the retained rectum. Are there plans to remove the rectum and have j-pouch surgery done? That would likely take care of your bleeding. If you need to wait longer, topical mesalamine or hydrocortisone (enemas) would be the treatment.

If you have your j-pouch already, I would presume the bleeding is from the retained rectal cuff. Mesalamine or hydrocortisone suppositories are the treatment for that. The other option would be diversion pouchitis. Having your ileostomy closed would the the appropriate treatment for that one.

Jan