Bleeding (Don't read if eating!!)

[Magic8Ball]

Ok, 17 days or so post op and i've started to bleed when having a bowel movement probably since day 12 or so.

Not every time but more often than not, sometimes a light movement will result in nothing but a larger movement will result in some fresh blood and sometimes some 'pink' water.

I don't have dark stools (They look pretty normal) or anything like that but i do have fresh red blood when i wipe.

It also kinda burns on exit (sometimes on the larger ones) which makes me feel like its an 'anus' cut/scratch rather than a bowel issue.

My urine stream is clear.

I have no pain or discomfort.

I have had this happen to me pre-surgery, probably about 5 times over the past 3 years and always put it down to a 'difficult' bowel movement.

I had one of these 'difficult' movements after surgery and have been taking a laxative ever since as i'm terrified of 'forcing one out' and blowing a stitch or something.

So my self diagnosis is that i've had a difficult bowel movement and scratched/torn something and am getting a little blood out the butt which is a little more than usual due to the coudamin but will stop soon.

The question is, should i mention it to my cardio during my first checkup tomorrow post surgery? I really don't want to start having to go for checkups for this during recovery for AVR.

But, should this require investigation how long after AVR would it be advisable to undergo a colonoscopy? not really in the mood for one especially this side of christmas but it would make financial sense to have one early next year while still on medical leave in case they need to do anything and i need to be off longer (that way i don't have to wait another qualifying period for insurance cover). I'm assuming that one of these on coudamin is not a walk in the park and i'll have to search for someone who doesn't want to fark around with my dosage.....i'm assuming i'd need to get one when fully anticoagulated just to see what's going on and then one on a bridge anticoag if they need to remove anything they don't like the look of.

Dam, was going so well up until now....

Anyhow, just throwing this question out there for opinions.

 

[davidfortune]

Dude,
Better safe than sorry on this one. Is there a question here?????? Talk to your cardio 1st thing tomorrow. 5 days with fresh blood. Hopefully you just have a little tear as you say but this is not something to play with after 5 days.

One day - I'm with you = see if it stops on its own. 5 DAYS!!! DUDE - talk to your doc!

 

[JimL]

Yes, talk to your cardiologist, and find yourself a proctologist. I faced this, but fortunately before heart surgery. It took me a long time to get help that worked, which was surgery; the problem certainly didn't go away by itself!

 

[WayneGM]

I'd get it checked out to be safe.

It sounds just like something I've had periodically well before my OHS. There's a name for it, which I forget, but it was something to do little veins close to the annus that sometimes rupture and bleed (i.e. like a little tear) usually after a difficult bowel movement or if you wipe too hard. It goes away after a few days. It looks like a lot more blood in the bowl than there really is.

The very first time it happened, I consulted a doctor and he just did a visual inspection and knew right away what it was. No colonoscopy was necessary. He gave me an anticeptic cream (no prescription, just one of the sample tubes) to put on it and just advised taking metamusil, or something like that, to keep the stools soft while it healed. That first time had to be at least 20 year ago, and I still get this from time to time, many months apart. Apparently it's one of those things that some people are prone to, and once it occurs it is likely to reoccur periodically. Hopefully that's all this is. Good luck.

 

[geebee]

Could be a small internal hemorrhoid. I have one and occasionally experience bright red blood on the toilet tissue. Rarely is it anything more but there has been one or two times when bleeding lasted a little while.

Been tested for internal polyps and all is well. Not ready to have surgery so I just put up with it.

Definitely see a doctor, tho. Without testing, you cannot know for sure what it is.

 

[Ross]

Sounds like a hemorrhoid. Have someone look to be sure, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. Now if you had said dark red/black tarry, then that's an emergency.

 

[Guest]

Constipation can be caused by pain medications. Taking docusate (to soften the bowel movements) with alots of water may help.

 

[sue943]

Sounds like a haemorrhoid (sorry, British spelling) to me too, I have one which bleeds from time to time. I just use a suppository with hydrocortisone if it is more than a spot or two and it clears up. By all means get it checked out but don't feel alone, it looks as if a number of us have the same problem.

 

[Nancy]

Sounds like an anal fissure. Unfortunately--someone has to have a look see--


Bottoms up!!

 

[Ross]

Pokety Poke.

 

[briansmom]

My son's hgb level was dropping like a stone after OHS. Dark stools and fecal occult blood, though. He had to have a colonoscopy and his INR was over 5. He had the equivalent of a bleeding ulcer in his colon. So a colonoscopy is doable, but I agree with the other posts, it does not sound the same as my son and sounds more like a hemorrhoid.

 

[aussigal]

I would start with a quick word with your GP about this, and possibly add some more water in your diet and maybe some Coloxyl. I think its more likely to be a small tear from straining or a haemorrhoid if there is residual pain and a bit more blood.

You are still early-weeks post-op and full of those anaesthetic-drugs. It takes us a fair few months to cleanse our system of all this so blame the drugs. .

 

[Magic8Ball]

usually after a difficult bowel movement or if you wipe too hard. It goes away after a few days. It looks like a lot more blood in the bowl than there really is.

Thats exactly it Wayne, had it for years .

It happened around day 12 day, nothing the next, then something for two days then on/off and this morning nothing. The stools are light brown, none of the black tar stuff. I'm taking laxative to soften it but my fear of 'pushing' and blowing a stitch means there is a lot of buggering around going on down there to get things moving.

I stopped the pain meds by day 14 after gradually reducing them since day 10 as i knew about the constipation thing from previous back injury...there's a funny story about that one but only close family know about it

I'll mention it anyway now, i was hoping for the 'yeh, thats normal' response but not really expecting it....i'd prefer the veign/haemorrhoid result rather than the colon cancer that i was worried about...i think i've appeared on enough 'stats' sheets for one lifetime.

Thanks again for the feedback, yesterday was probably my first 'low' day when i felt vunerable and not quite the 'man' i used to be....not being able to punch my way out of a paper bag doesnt help....

 

[WayneGM]

Sounds like an anal fissure

"Anal fissure"....that's the name I couldn't remember! The doctor called it a "superficial anal fissure".

Here's some info on anal fissures from a medical book....

An anal fissure, also called an anorectal fissure, is a linear crack or tear in the skin of the anus. Most anal fissures happen when a large, hard stool overstretches the anal opening and tears the delicate anal skin.

Anal fissure symptoms may include:
- Pain in the anal area, often described as sharp, searing or burning, and usually triggered by a large, hard bowel movement
- Mild rectal bleeding, typically appearing as a small amount of bright red blood spotting or streaking toilet paper after a bowel movement
- Anal itch

Painful anal fissures can be a recurrent problem in people who suffer from repeated episodes of constipation. Fortunately, superficial fissures usually heal quickly with medical treatment, and most symptoms disappear within a few days.

For an acute fissure, your doctor may recommend that you use a stool softener and follow the suggestions for relieving constipation. He or she also may tell you to apply a medicated cream to the fissure, and to soak the anal area in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day. For chronic fissures, surgery can correct the problem in more than 90 percent of cases.

 

[Magic8Ball]

- Pain in the anal area, often described as sharp, searing or burning, and usually triggered by a large, hard bowel movement
- Mild rectal bleeding, typically appearing as a small amount of bright red blood spotting or streaking toilet paper after a bowel movement
- Anal itch

Yes, Yes and Yes....

Just back from the GP and he agree's but has also given me some supositories in case its haemorrhoid's....oh the joy of sticking your finger up your a** just makes my day complete....

Thanks guys, another 'situation' helped with information and humour...just what i needed.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Here's a Ross-ism that stuck in my memory:

"Two Prunes a day keeps the 'rhoids away"

Fluids and BRAN also helps.

Seems to work

'AL Capshaw'

 

[gadgetman]

: "Two Prunes a day keeps the 'rhoids away"

'AL Capshaw'

Do yew eat em er use em as suppositorys??????

May God Bless,

Bubba

 

[sue943]

True story about a suppository...

Many years ago I used to work in the x-ray department of a hospital and for some x-rays we used to have to send laxitives and suppositories. As this was back in the very early 60s language used was quaint to put it mildly. One instruction read that the suppository was to be placed in the 'back passage' one hour before leaving home.

One day a woman was x-rayed and her colon wasn't empty. She was questioned about the non-use of the suppository and was really confused. Locally houses often had a passage between two houses leading to the rear of the house - yep, she placed it outside the back door of the house!

 

[Magic8Ball]

my second surgeon (the competent one) puts all of his AVR patients on stool softeners after surgery so they won't rupture their internal stitches by straining to have a bowel movement. It does happen. When you strain, it creates a "Valsalva maneuver," which puts pressure on your ascending aorta -- which is to be avoided.

Yeh, funny no-one mentioned that to me but i took it on my own to do this for exactly that reason, been on 10ml of laxtulose since comming home and just upped it to 15ml. Didn't start soon enough which is why i think it triggered the 'hardness' that caused the fissure in the first place.

I think 1/2 the problem is that i won't strain at all for the above reasons so things sit there longer which must have assisted with the 'fissure' and also be why i'm full of wind. Hopefully the higher dose will 'rush' things through a little easier.

One instruction read that the suppository was to be placed in the 'back passage' one hour before leaving home.

Ha Ha, you've got to love the English Language, as soon as i read the instructuion i knew what the old dear was going to do. Can you imagine what whas going through her mind when she did that..."what on earth are these doctors on about, never mind....." suprised one of the local kids didn't eat it!

To be honest i wish that was a bloody option for me....god made that thing water tight for a reason