Recurring Blood in Stool from Stoma: Seeking Advice

Sorry to post again.
I've been having lots of problems with my stoma for the last 2 weeks. This is the worst period since my stoma was formed nearly a year ago.

On the 16th and 17th of November, I found streaks of blood in my stool. I reported it to my stoma nurse and she wasn't concerned, and I was reassured.
But it happened again on the 25th, but more than last time. It stopped after a few minutes, but there was blood running through the stool out of my stoma.
It's now the weekend here and my stoma nurse doesn't work on weekends and the GP surgery is closed. The only option is calling 111, but I'm worried they will send me to A&E, which they did earlier this year for blood from my stoma. When I went to A&E for it before, they just looked in my bag, said there was no blood now, so I was fine to go home, and the blood test was fine, so there was nothing concerning. So, I do not want to go again and have this happen.
I already had a blood test this morning for other issues, and the full blood count has come back as normal, awaiting other results like thyroid, liver, electrolytes. But nothing concerning in the full blood count. So, I feel a trip to A&E would be a waste of time.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

What I would do, as long as it wasn't a lot of blood, is wait until Monday. Make a call to your doctor or nurse. If they don't satisfy your wishes, go in and be checked. Blood in your poop could be harmless, but it could also be bad.

Hello Bethstanley.

Thank you for posting your concerns to us for comment and discussion, as we welcome the opportunity to chip in with our own perspectives on such issues. 

The first thing that comes to mind is that your reasoning about not going to A&E seem perfectly sensible. If yours' is anything like our local A&E you would probably have to wait for hours before being seen and then find that the people seeing you don't know much about stomas anyway.  Given the chronic shortage of staff and beds, they would, in all probability, send you home with the same sort of advice as Alex has given.

Now, for my own reasoning when this sort of thing happens:
First of all, I look at the colour of the blood. If it's bright-red and on the outside of the faeces, then it probably comes from a small wound on or near the entrance to the stoma and is usually nothing to worry about, and eventually these will heal up on their own. These little imperfections are much less worrying when we can see then on the outside of the stoma, but they are just as likely to occur just inside and out of sight as well.
If the blood is browner in colour and runs inside as well as outside the poo, then this would indicate a more serious problem which needs immediate attention. 

I would take a sample of the poo as seen with the problem, rather than chancing whether it will happen when/if I visit the doctors. I believe they call it 'Murphy's Law', when the thing that is bothering us, never happens when confronted with the people who need to witness it.

Small amounts of blood in and around the stoma seem to be a common occurrence, (with me at least) so I tend not to worry about these types of incidents too much. 

I hope my comments are reasonably reassuring and informative. and refer you back to Alex's post for what seems like good advice.

Best wishes

Bill 

   

Thank you! No blood today, so hopefully, it will be okay to wait until Monday. Thank you!

Hi!
Yeah, it will definitely be the same at my A&E.
I was sent there earlier this year for bleeding by 111, and they weren't concerned then, so it will probably be the same.
I've had blood around my stoma plenty of times, which doesn't concern me because I can see the mark on my skin it's coming from.
But the last 3 times, it has been running through my output as it is coming out of the stoma. So it's actually mixed in my output, but it is red, so hopefully not a concern.
I've taken some photos I can show my stoma nurse on Monday.
Thank you!

Living with Your Ostomy | Hollister