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From: ralph p. on 21 Nov 2007 09:43
hi,
background: colostomy surgery (including removal of rectum) May, 2005.
since then, the anal opening has not healed. in the meantime, i had
another
surgery in dec. 2006 to repair a perforation in my bladder, and the
colorectal
surgeon moved "omentum" down into the pelvis to promote healing. for
the
first time in 13 years, tissue removed from the pelvic cavity/anal
canal opening
proved to be cancerous (recurrent rectal cancer from 1994). now,
after
a year of radiation (one month) and folfox chemo (six months), the
pelvic
cavity has shrunk, and no evidence of the cancer is showing up in ct
scans,
and CEA has dropped to 1.4.
now, to get to my question, there still is discharge from the opening--
usually
a pinkish fluid with some mucous (the amount of mucous has diminished
significantly over the year)--presumably by eliminating the cancer in
the
pelvis, the anal wound should be healing. what are the features of
"normal
healing" after a colostomy? is the pinkish discharge normal? mucous?
and
how long does it take "normally" for the anal wound to heal.

thanks in advance,
--ralph p.
From: Fake on 21 Nov 2007 16:06
On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:43:09 -0800, ralph p. wrote:

> now, to get to my question, there still is discharge from the opening--
> usually
> a pinkish fluid with some mucous (the amount of mucous has diminished
> significantly over the year)--presumably by eliminating the cancer in the
> pelvis, the anal wound should be healing. what are the features of "normal
> healing" after a colostomy? is the pinkish discharge normal? mucous? and
> how long does it take "normally" for the anal wound to heal.


Though I was lucky enough to keep most of my rectum, I have had the same
issue. It took about 6 months for the pink fluid to dissipate. My
radiation treatment did the most damage and though it's been almost two
years, things are just starting to feel "normal" down there. Another issue
I had after radiation was low platelet level. My old butt always itches as
it heals.

The secret to feeling better was to start walking and being active. I
started out with a mile a day of walking and am now up to 5. Things really
improved! I also changed my diet away from the "American" diet.

I understand that people who loose all of the anus and rectum have it
really bad. I hope that is not what your going through!

Hope this helps!

From: ralph p. on 22 Nov 2007 12:01
hi, and thanks for the reply. i believe my rectum and anus were
completely removed.
i had a pelvic cavity with fluid collection that was 10+ cm. the
cancer seems to be in
the linings of the pelvic wall--there has been no mass/tumor that
could be removed.
the cavity last measured ca. 4 cm. from what you say, and given the
radiation and
chemo it sounds like i have a long wait ahead of me, if the cavity
ever closes and heals
entirely. a complicating factor was a perforation in the bladder,
apparently caused by
infection/abscess rather than cancer, along with a fistula from the
bladder to the
pelvic cavity. i have had a super-pubic catheter since last december--
the urologist
wants to wait until the chemo is completed. well, one more chemo
treatment to go
and then we'll see what happens.
thanks again. it looks like there may be some hope--ralph p.

On Nov 21, 4:06 pm, Fake <1...(a)2.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:43:09 -0800, ralph p. wrote:
> > now, to get to my question, there still is discharge from the opening--
> > usually
> > a pinkish fluid with some mucous (the amount of mucous has diminished
> > significantly over the year)--presumably by eliminating the cancer in the
> > pelvis, the anal wound should be healing. what are the features of "normal
> > healing" after a colostomy? is the pinkish discharge normal? mucous? and
> > how long does it take "normally" for the anal wound to heal.
>
> Though I was lucky enough to keep most of my rectum, I have had the same
> issue. It took about 6 months for the pink fluid to dissipate. My
> radiation treatment did the most damage and though it's been almost two
> years, things are just starting to feel "normal" down there. Another issue
> I had after radiation was low platelet level. My old butt always itches as
> it heals.
>
> The secret to feeling better was to start walking and being active. I
> started out with a mile a day of walking and am now up to 5. Things really
> improved! I also changed my diet away from the "American" diet.
>
> I understand that people who loose all of the anus and rectum have it
> really bad. I hope that is not what your going through!
>
> Hope this helps!

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