??? Bleed ???

Day 11 post op. When I left the hospital last Sunday i had to stay an extra few hours as they were concerned about a bleed in my bowel. I was passing some blood which they say is normal, but my hemoglobin had dropped  10 points from the previous day.  When my blood work came back they were not "concerned". Now over the last 3-4 days I have been increasingly tired, dizzy and I wake up this am looking like Casper the ghost. My BM's have been few and far between in this last week so to go by that can't really say that it was an acute bleed still or just left over from surgery. Anyone else have a post op bowel bleed that can give any insight to treatment or advice telling me this is normal. Thank god I'm back to clinic tomorrow!

I didn't have this problem, and I know it's not unusual to have 1 or maybe 2 BM after surgery that have a small amount of blood (though luckily I didn't). I WOULD however go and get it checked if it gets any worse or at the very least call your surgeon today and let him know you are going to the clinic tomorrow and maybe he can arrange some tests for you. I don't like the idea of messing around with possible internal bleeding. Better safe than sorry...especially since you can't be sure.

Being tired or mildly dizzy can be common after this surgery......but MY 2 cents would be to get it checked. Good luck

Hi Girlie79, I had a bowel bleed post op which is now almost 2.5 years ago.  Mine was quite severe that I required 3 separate blood transfusions.  For me, it was pretty obvious that I was bleeding internally.  Here's what I experienced and what I was told by the surgeon. 

- blood in your bowels will actually make you go to the washroom more often than normal because it makes your fecal matter soft and loose
- I was told to look for bright red blood after a bowel movement. If your BM is dark black/brown it’s probably not the result of an “active” bleed but is leftover blood
- blood in your bowels gives off a very distinct smell, once you’ve smelt it you will never forget the smell. The other day I was in the hospital visiting a sick relative and I knew without a doubt that the person next to my relative had a bleed.....the smell is truly disguising.

 Like I said my bleed was pretty severe that I couldn’t sit up without passing out and by the 2 day post-op, I had no control over my bowels and the blood was just flowing out of me.

Hope this helps.  Take care