Anyone notice blood in bowel movements?

It's been Day 9 now since I've had my TAH BSO. My bowels started working, finally, about 3 days ago. I am still mostly having diarrhea. Today I went to the bathroom and I had a lot of diarrhea mixed in with a somewhat normal bowel movement. But when I wiped myself and went to put the T.P. in the throne, I noticed that in the throne it looked kind of red or bloody. And when I looked on the T.P. there was spots of what I'm sure was blood also. Is this normal? I called my dr. but I have to wait for the nurse to call back. I was on IV Cipro when I was in the hospital, and in the past I have had 3 bouts of a bacterial infection in my colon caused by antibiotics. So I don't know if this is another bout of C. Diff or if this is normal after a hyst. When I urinate, it is like it's suppose to be. No blood. So I'm a little worried. It has to be coming from my bowels. C. Diff causes bloody diarrhea, but I'm no dr. so I don't know if this is just part of the surgery. Anybody else experience this?

Greetings from Farmington! I had something similar happen about 15 days post op. I noticed blood on the T.P. but only after bowel movements. I assumed it was coming from my colon, but it turned out to be blood from the dissolving stitches. I think the straining and pressure from the bowel movements pushed it out of the vagina. I've read posts from others describing similar experiences. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate rectal bleeding from vaginal spotting.

Hello fellow Mainer,
My brother llived in Farmingdale for years. He only recently moved to Portland.

Thank you for answering my post. When I first saw the blood I just sort of freaked out. All I could think of was another problem. Well, I did call my drs. office and they told me to go to the ER. I don't see any blood when I urinate. It's only when I have bowel movements. And I have also had diarrhea that is like water. The dr. had the nurse take some blood and they told me I was very anemic. So he gave me a script for iron pills. Just another pill to put on my long laundry list of medications. Now they want me to bring in a stool sample. In the past I've had a bacterial infection of the colon called C. Diff. It's really nasty and the longer it goes untreated the worse you get. It's like staph. So just to be on the safe side, the dr. gave me a kit so I could take a sample to the hospital lab with a follow up with my dr. who did the surgery. I've had this infection 3 times in the past and I pray I don't have it again. It's caused when antibiotics are taken and all the good bacteria is wiped out in your colon. I was on a lot of antibiotics in the hospital. So if it is this infection, it doesn't surprise me. But I'm praying that is is like what you said it can be. The medication you have to take to wipe out C. Diff is nasty tasting and has side effects.
But you are right. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between rectal bleeding and vaginal spotting. Last time I had the C. Diff, I had it so long that I ended up having a colonoscopy to make sure that it was really gone and the dr. took biopsies at the time and the test came back clean. I'm really not in the mood for another colonoscopy right now. Thanks again for the help.

It's pretty quiet up in Farmington, isn't it? When my brother lived up that way, his street was very quiet. No kids around. But I think it's also very peaceful there too.

(((Luvs2Quilt)))
I'm sorry you're having the struggles with your bowels. I hope it isn't the c diff returning. I've never dealt with it personally so can't really offer any help there.
I just wanted to give a caution about the iron pills. I had to take iron for a long time-years before my hyst and have found the only ones I would want to take now are the time release ones. They work great and aren't so hard on your system. The other ones can be very constipating. If you haven't filled this script you might want to ask your dr if the others would be ok to take. You can buy the Slow Fe brand at any drug store and they worked like a charm for me. Just a little tip from my experience. I hope you find your problem soon and get to feeling better. Keep us posted.
's, Rita

Thank you for the tip. I did fill out the prescription, but the last time I took them they bothered my stomach also. The pharmacist told me to eat something with them but I'm going to check out the ones you mention. I have seen Slow Fe in the drugstore before, I just didn't know how well they worked. So I never bought them. But I think I'll give them a try. Chances are I'll be taking them for a while, and I don't want to take the ones that are going to upset my stomach or cause problems going to the bathroom.