Gin, I've had other stuff but not this. I think that smell could be indicating infection, in which case you might be considered more of an emergency patient and maybe should be seen sooner than later. I'm no doctor but I would at least mention all of this to your stoma nurse so she can determine if you should come in before Tuesday. Maybe a phoned-in antibiotic in the meantime?

I agree with Lambiepie. Sounds like an infection.

If you could have antibiotics started I would do it.

I know it's late. In the day.  But that's my schedule.

I hope you get better. Keep us up to date.

May have been a stitch. My surgeon just pulled 3 more supposed dissolvable ones from me three weeks ago and almost two years old!  Not her fault. They just never dissolved.  But they never got infected. Good luck. That sounds awful.  Great sleep. But passing out is definitely no fun. 

Richard. 

Is it an almost fishy smell?  From what I remember when I had ostomy I was still producing discharge anally, that had a kind of fishy smell. This was considered normal, and is actually a good sign, it means the bowel after the ostomy is still actively replacing skin cells and bacteria.  

The stoma I had was a loop ileostomy. This was still connected to my jpouch.  For some reason the surgeon was adamant it wasn't connected, but on occasion i passed food from the previous day so I know for a fact it was.

You have had a few ops around the stoma site, maybe you have a leak and a bit of back wash from the pouch.  Definitely worth getting it checked, but if the docs says your not connected, take that with a pinch of salt. 

Just checking in -- how are you? Did you get in or still waiting for Tuesday? I've had several infections over my journey through ileostomy, from bags to j pouch and now k pouch. I would most definitely say these are major signs of infection... also of one that seams to have spread and could be serious. I too have drained and "hot-compressed" what I figured was an infected stitch or simple one site problem without issue. But this kind of thing should probably be medically treated sooner rather than later. I've had multiple experiences of nurses telling me I couldn't have an infection because I wasn't running a fever -- only to complain of major pain and complications to the doctor, who then poked around and found a serious infection. Take care!

I hope all is well. I am interested in what it was determined to be. My surgeon had to remove part of a staple from beside my stoma 8 months after my permanent ileostomy. That little thing caused me a trip to see her 3.5 hours away! The stoma nurse was afraid to remove it as it looked like a bristle of a wire brush. Can't make this stuff up!

I had the same with a staple next to my stoma. It was there for months but worked itself out and fell in the bag one day. She(surgeon) didn't want to pull it out.

As of now I'm still dealing with undisovlved stitches.  I go in in the morning to see if she can find anymore. Found four so far which kept me from healing from my last surgery fully. Which was two years ago!  But I think they are all out now. I can tell by the way it feels. No pain or swelling.  It's not by my stoma. It was at the bottom of the incision. Thank goodness it was not by the stoma. That bugger is doing just fine. I keep it working overtime now that I can eat! Lol

Richard. 

So, a quick update.

First, thank you all for your input! Because of the time difference, I didn't see responses until Saturday (the 2nd). By then, everything was cleared up! The line under my stoma was already mostly closed, and the spot to the side was healing very nicely. No other symptoms at all, so I decided to keep an eye on it and wait.

All was good until Tuesday, when the small spot to the side opened up again; a tiny amount of pus came out, but still no other symptoms. Yesterday the spot was about triple the size and still more pus was released, so I phoned for an appointment. By yesterday afternoon I was definitely feeling sore in the area, And this morning the wound was again larger, with more pus, plus being red, swollen, and very sore.

I saw the nurse this afternoon. She says it is pretty bad, especially growing that quickly. Her theory is that it is a result of the Crohn's somehow. She gave me a type of pad to cut & size to the sore, and made an appointment with the dermatologist. But that appointment isn't until the 22!

This was at my local hospital, where I go for small things. I'm not sure waiting until the 22nd is the best idea, so I've contacted the stoma nurses at the hospital where my surgeon practices, which is about an hour and a half away. (That's why I don't go there for non-urgent things.) Hopefully I'll hear back from them today or tomorrow morning.

I'm really hoping this stupid thing heals up!

Thanks for your concern; I'll keep you all posted.

Gin

Dear Gin,

OMG

You did the right thing. I am amazed she didn't get you on an antibiotic! It sounds like an abscess. I know Crohn's is an issue but if she didn't know of that diagnosis I womder what she would have done?

It reminds me of the abscess I had under the incision from my 1st surgery, the colonectomy and j-pouch build. It was huge causing a very deep hole under my incision after the takedown surgery. I had to pack it for months as it had to heal open.  I had a nasty scar/hole that was fixed during a subsequent surgery. I would hate to see you stuck with something like that. 

I am trying to imagine how you can keep a pad on given the proximity to your stoma. 

Paulette

Hello, all. Sorry again for the delay! Simply too much going on. It turns out I have a pyoderma, so am being treated with topical steroids and such. It had actually closed up last week so the doc dropped the steroids to every other day, but this past week -- of course, while on holiday! -- it opened up again. So back to the daily regimen, and phoning the doc on Monday for another appointment.

Anyone else deal with one of these?

Gin

The Mayo Clinic site says this happens with auto-immune diseases including IBD. Is that what your doctors said?

I hope it clears up soon and well.