Mucus from Rectal Stump

Hello. I'm reaching out with the hope of finding a solution(s) to a daunting issue I am faced with. I had an end sigmoid colostomy 14 months ago for stool to bypass my dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles. I could not expel stool via my ano-rectal canal because of "paradoxical contraction" of my puborectalis muscle. It closed tight when it's supposed to open to allow stool to come out. Anyway, the surgeon for some reason left quite a bit of colon and my rectum and anus intact. This is causing me a serious problem with all the mucus that the stump still produces. Unlike most ostomates who produce a good amount of mucus from their rectal stump, I cannot expel the mucus by sitting on the toilet and bearing down as if having a bowel movement. I have to take a small water enema to dilute the mucus and then force the mucus out with the water by straining hard because of my paradoxical contraction. But, today I haven't even been able to do that because my pelvic floor muscles have become too weak. I can't generate enough pressure to force out the water and mucus mixture. This is driving me insane. The pain and discomfort is indescribable.

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you deal with it? What was your solution?

Any guidance on what I can do to get some relief would be deeply appreciated. I have read that if I cannot expel the mucus it will build up to a hard mass that has to be surgically removed. Thanks for patiently reading through my narrative.

Oh dear! This sounds like an awful situation. Unfortunately, I don't think mucus can be avoided—I experienced it too, even though my reason for ileostomy was extreme pain when passing things. In my case, I essentially had to suck it up and pretend it didn't feel like acid on my skin, but your case sounds significantly more serious than mine, so I would suggest calling your doctor right away or going to the emergency room.

Trust me, I know that going back to the emergency room after a stoma surgery is the last thing anyone wants to do, but sometimes it's necessary for your safety.

Good luck! o7

Hello markmd1112

Thank you for posting your predicament on here as it doesn’t often come up as a subject, which makes me think that those who ‘suffer’ from it might be a bit more isolated in their predicament than they ought to be.
Prior to having a stoma, I had similar problems with passing faeces and used to anally irrigate. The hospital provided me with anal irrigation catheters (alongside dire warnings of what can happen if I was not ultra-careful in doing this procedure!)
After my stoma, I had similar problems with excessive mucus, so it seemed the obvious thing for me to do was to irrigate as I had done in the past.  However, it did not work with a gravity-fed water system, so I made my own pressurised system.
This consisted of finding out how much colon made up my rectal stump so that I knew how much leeway I had to insert the catheter(s). 
The first catheter I made so that the jet came out directly from the end, which flushed the far reaches of the anus
The second catheter had jets directing the water to the sides which, when twisted would clean and flush the mucus from the sides of the anus,. I would begin the process of twisting and pulling the catheter out from the inside outwards so that it flushed everything out from tom to ‘bottom’ as it were.
These catheters were rigged up to my shower unit in the bath,which is where I squatted, so that any output would land in the bottom of the bath and be visible for inspection.
This worked very well for a year or so until the problem eased and I felt I no longer needed to undertake this procedure anymore.
I would say that if I needed to do it again, I would probably use the same irrigation set-up that I use on my stoma. This involves a pressurised garden sprayer with a Coloplast regulator and an adapted anal catheter on the end.  This works very well in the stoma,  so I don’t see any reason why it would not work anally. 
I do hope you manage to find a way to resolve your own problems, but, if you try the anal catheter method, please take the warnings seriously as ruptured colons can be even more difficult to deal with than mucus.
Best wishes

Bill

Hi Mark, sounds like you need your rectum and anus removed and having a complete ileostomy, which I had done. Life for you will be much better, I'm sure. Regards, IGGIE

Hi there,

I have. I actually have my ileostomy for very severe pelvic floor dysfunction. I actually couldn't even use any water to try and get mucus out, and before my ileostomy I wouldn't go to the bathroom for 3 weeks. My muscles are so severely tight they don't let anything out. I ended up having my rectum removed but left my anus.

Staying Hydrated with an Ostomy with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

You should definitely return to the hospital. You don't want any ruptures. Iggie has good advice and experience.

Good luck and hope you can get this resolved ASAP.

Hello markmd1112

I am in the same situation right now. It's so tight the water is not going in or out. I am using pressurized water with anal irrigation catheters. My seat is close to my shower, so I connect the catheter to the hose I use with my handheld shower and get some warm water. But like I said, it's really tight today, and I am still going through pain issues from my last surgery. I am not ready for another surgery of any kind after my last back surgery (see my pics). Even after replacing the broken rod, I still have problems with my left leg. I have done Botox injections, and they have worked in the past. I just had one a few weeks ago, but not much relief this time. Going to sit on some ice and see if I get a reaction.