Bleeding...

I posted this in the main message board, but I going to post here because I am worried about my friend. My friend had the surgery last Wednesday. The first three days were easy probably because of the meds that they gave her. She has been following the directions that the doc has given her. The only thing is that she ate very small portions of peaches but she made sure that the fruit was smushed/pureed. The past 2 days have been on the down side. She has no energy whatsoever and now when she goes to the bathroom (to do #2) she bleeds. Sometimes its diareah mixed with blood and sometimes it is just blood. On top of that she has just began her period. So she is losing blood. Is this normal in the beginning stages?? Sorry for the gross details but one has to always be concerned with their health.

You should be concerned for her health. I NEVER bled when I had a #2. My period became irregular, but that is it, and I have every complication in the book You should get your friend to the ER, or at the very least, get her to page her surgeon, this is NOT normal, especially if it is fresh bright red blood! Good luck to her. You are such a good friend to be concerned and search for answers!

Before we jump to conclusions, it is typical to have hard stools after surgery, and they can tear the lining of the rectum and blood will appear in the stools in the toilet. If she is having internal bleeding, the stools will be black. She has to be sure to take her vitamins and B12 as she gets further out from surgery. She won't have a big vitmain deficiency right off the bat, they take time. Remember, your friend has just had major internal surgery. She will have low energy at first as her body uses all its resources to recover. She should rest, drink her fluids, and use a stool softener if her poop is really hard. AND, she should always call her surgeon if she thinks anything is amiss.

Be aware of an unexpected period, though. We store hormones in our fat cells so when we lose weight rapidly, those hormones are released sometimes causing irregular cycles. I started bleeding a few weeks out and had a very heavy cycle that lasted 9 weeks. The doctors should have given me something to stop it but I don't think they took me seriously enough. Now I am 4 1/2 months out and am extremely iron deficient (iron saturation=5, iron serum=18). They have started giving my IV bags of iron to get it up. Now they are taking me seriously. Don't let your friend go that far. She can insist on help - I should have. Good Luck to your friend. She is lucky to have you! Ronda