March 13, 2003. CAUTION: GRAPHIC UPDATE FOLLOWS. THE SQEAMISH SHOULD CONSIDER THEMSELVES WARNED!
I had such a frightening experience yesterday. I'm 9 days post op and doing very well if I cooperate and don't try to do too much too soon. But at 3am I thought I had made a huge mistake having this surgery. I went to the bathroom and had an "explosive" bowel movement. The kind I had when I was doing my pre-op cleanse, not something I expected to have after surgery, especially since there hasn't been more than water and other clear liquids passing through my system. It was dark, chocolatey syrup like. Gross. I tried to dismiss it as wierd and went back to bed. Right before 5am it happened again, only this time it wouldn't stop. I was feeling lightheaded and feared I would pass out. When I finally had a break in the action to wipe, there was bright red blood on the tissue. YIKES! I called my husband, who called the doctor, whose answering service didn't answer. Fortunately, his angel-of-a-nurse, Denise, had given me her contact information since we live so close to one another. My husband got a hold of her and she told us to come to the surgery center. I was SO scared and SO weak, I nearly passed out twice just trying to get to the car. By the time we made it to the hospital, I was telling my husband how much I've loved our life together and that I love hime with all my heart. Both of us were scared and near tears.
Once at the hospital, everything stopped! Kind of like when you call a plumber to fix a leak and the minute he gets there the leak stops. Blood work was ordered and taken and sent to the lab. After an hour or so, my surgeon arrived (he'd been in the OR)to tell me that I'm fine. Since my surgery was long and I had signigicant blood loss due to the gall bladder complications, my intestines had absorbed a great deal of blood. Blood acts as a laxative, hence the dark red/black bm. As to the fresh red blood, probably an irritated internal hemorrhoid or something!
Whew! Would have liked to have known that was a possibility. Nothing in anything I've read on this website has addressed this potential. I know it doesn't happen to everyone and THANK GOD for that! But it CAN happen and if it DOES happen it isn't the end of the world or your life. You should get yourself to the ER that your surgeon recommends ASAP and follow instructions on rehydrating.
Okay, on a happier note - I saw my psych today and he's putting me back on effexor, starting with a small dose, building to a dose that will be smaller than my pre-op dose. I still have no idea what kind of weight loss I've had, and oddly that doesn't matter so much. I guess I just know it's going to happen!