Rectal Prolapse After Surgery?

Intro:

I was first diagnoses with Ulcerative Colitis in 2009 and eventually had to have the total colectomy and ileoanal pouch surgery. The final surgery was completed in February 2014 and all was well until recently. I saw my GI this afternoon and am scheduled for a colonoscopy in 2 weeks time.

Some more background:

I am from South Africa and previously enjoyed horse-riding but currently my life is so hectically busy that I have not had the time to re-start this since my surgeries

Symptoms:

Though I no longer have the typical UC symptoms since my surgery, I am currently experiencing a potential rectal prolapse. SInce the surgery, my quality of life has greatly improved but I do still experience the obvious consequences of no longer having a colon e.g. +- 10 bowel movements a day; high risk of dehydration especially when experiencing a stomach bug

Rectal Prolapse After Surgery?

My question is for anyone who may have experienced a rectal prolapse since their surgery. I will describe my situation below and hopefully somebody has had a similar experience or has heard of such so I can have some guidance of what to expect.

Late December I was feeling more constipated than normal – by constipated I mean that instead of 10 very loose explosive bowel movements, I was having to strain a bit to get any stool out. That evening when I went to the toilet, it felt as if a hard stool was stuck in my rectum so I pushed.

There was a burning sensation and when I tried to “rub off” the stuck stool with toilet paper, I could feel something was not right and there was a lot of blood on the toilet paper. I then realized that there was a mass the size of a golf ball sticking out of me. It was very dark red and when I stood up, I could feel this mass pulsing as if I could feel my heart beat.

Every time I would stand up, some stool would slip out past the mass so I would have to sit back down again. This continued for quite sometime until the mass eventually retracted back inside by itself.

Since then, every time I go to the toilet, it feels as if the mass is trying to come out again when ever I need to push. With a bit of maneuvering and creativity I managed to use a mirror and I can see that whenever I push, a pink mass starts coming out of my rectum. I obviously do not let it come out as I am afraid of it not retracting this time.

I contacted my surgeon as soon as his practice opened after the festive season and he unfortunately was too busy to be able to see me and recommended that I rather follow up with my GI who could assist me sooner.

I met with my GI this afternoon and he says that he suspects that it is a rectal prolapse but that he has never heard of this happening to someone who has had the surgery. He has scheduled a colonoscopy for two weeks time to try and investigate.

Has anyone had a similar experience? What where you diagnosed with and if it is rectal prolapse, what is the treatment?

I am really scared that this means my pouch is failing and that I would end up with a full time ileostomy.

For now, my GI has started me on Probiotics as well as Agiobulk to help with the stool consistency and frequency. My surgeon had me using Imodium on a as-needed basis but my GI seemed quite surprised by this as he says Imodium works on the colon and that since I no longer have one, it is not effective.

I am trying to be positive and not freak myself out by imagining the worse but I would love anybody’s experiences as the waiting for the colonoscopy is going to be stressful

Current Medications:

Currently been treating loose stools with Imodium with minimal effectiveness. I have started with Agiobulk and Probiotics from today so am hopeful that this might help with the frequency and consistency of my stools

written by Aphrael

submitted in the colitis venting area