New Setback

Well, the day before yesterday it was ten days since I had my horizontal TAH. It was very hot so I thought I would just go with my pregnant 18 year old to the mall and just walk as I could. When I got there I was o.k. for about a half hour and then I had to have a b/m and bright blood appeared. I waited around until my husband picked us up an hour later and felt very weak.

I was still bleeding and it looked to me like it was vaginally so I called the consulting nurse who said I should waste no time even though I had slowed down on the bleeding and go to the ER. She made it sound like it could turn into a real life threatning situation and that scared me. When I got to the hospital, however, they waited 3 hours to take me back in fact, they took everyone ahead of me saying I wasn't critical even though I had arrived there ahead of them. I checked and to me it seemed now like the blood was coming out of both areas. I told the triage male nurse and he just shrugged. To make a long story short after I finally got in the Dr. said he was pretty sure it was coming out vaginally and that I would be o.k. since it slowed down. He said the clot and pool of blood I had were just some pooled blood probably left over from surgery but to see my Dr. the next day.

I saw him today and he reassured me I wasn't going to bleed to death that it looked like I had pulled some dissolvable staples that are where the cervix used to be. He also told me to stay in bed for another week and not to yet go to the mall just around the house walks. I felt pretty confident leaving until.....

I just now at midnight had another b/m with what again looks like bright and dark blood coming out of that area. Anybody have any suggestions or can they say this happened to them? Also I have pain in my upper thigh which I think is where the knot from the shots of vistaril were given to me but if it was a blod clot, how would I know?

I thank anyone who will give me some sisterly advice and even though it is not to be used as Dr. advice I would really like to hear of your experience. Thank you!

You're resident jallopy here (I'm falling apart) to respond to your question!

Blood clots in the extremities (legs, arms, feet, hands) often are very painful. They cause swelling, burning, and usually have dark red streaks that are in and around the vein that they are located in. See a doctor immediately if this happens.

You're only 10 days post op. You should still taking it easy. The mall is a definate for now. You should approach things gradually. Walk around the house (inside) more and more. Drink lots of water, and eat regularly. If you experience blood in your stools or more bleeding, call your doctor again and explain the situation.

The plan is: immediately after surgery take it pretty easy for the first couple of weeks, gradually build up to regular activities as described by your doctor, and listen to your body. If you get tired or display symptoms slow down and call your doc as needed.

Good luck, and hopefully things will be all better soon.

Just a thought....

Could you have a rectal fissure?

They will bleed bright red, but only immediately after a hard stool. It stings like crazy too. It is where the rectum can't stretch out enough, and **rip**, it tears. OUCH!

Mine has come back again, once my stools got normal. I'm using a bit of Vagisil before I go now, and it doesn't sting, at least. I'm going to take a stool softener, too.

But if you are bleeding vaginally, whew. I'm at Day 15, and I have a very light pinkish discharge from time to time.

Be careful, and take care!

I'm glad you asked this question. I'm having the same problem at times, and not with hard stools or stinging. In fact, I went to the DR last week because I was feeling a lot of pressure, I just had trouble explaining to her that it seemed to be more rectal pressure than anything else. (I can talk to anyone about my gynocological history, but have a LOT of trouble talking about my bowels - go figure.) They couldn't find anything (and lost my urine culture - they wanted to make sure I didn't have a UTI). Soon after I arrived home, I had a BM with a lot of blood in it and on it, in addition to blood on the paper... I go back next week and will talk to my DR about it then. This has happened quite a bit since the surgery, in addition to my stomach/abdomen being sensitve to the touch and cramping after eating/drinking much at a time... I'm going to follow your post and see if someone else has also had this problem and got some answers.

If it were me, I'd call the ON-Call doctor now. I get scared easily and I would ask what this new rectal blood is about, don't leave out the vaginal bleeding either. Sorry I'm no help.

I agree with Maralyn and would call the doctor again. I'd also spend more time just resting in bed. Just a thought, too, could you maybe have hemmoroids? These occur sometimes after constipation and can cause bleeding & stinging.

Take good care of yourself and give yourself time to heal.


Terry