Colostomy problem: Rectal discharge 18 months out

I had a loop colostomy December 2023. I have a mucus problem also and my bowel surgeon could not help me at all. Twice a day, morning and bedtime, I do the 'squooshers', that is empty enema bottles filled with warm water squooshed up my anus to clean the mucus out as best I can. Still I have had to give myself an enema once a week to clear out the now solidified mucus pieces which are so uncomfortable and which the squooshers can not dislodge. Ugly looking stuff!!! (I've actually photographed the offending pieces first time for posterity. I promise I won't post.) That's a lot of enemas and needless to say, I hate it.

However recently now twice I've been able to last for over a month without having to take an enema. Hooray for small mercies. Could it be the start of a diminishing production of the mucus?

I am horrified to learn of the dreadful states vis-à-vis mucus that others on this topic must live through. All best to all of you.

bidets are pretty cool. You got a warm seat. Some will even OPEN upon approaching the seat. You got warm water sweeping away any crap you got left and it also has a blower to blow off any wetness.

I have no knowledge of a bidet and think that it can't be any cleaner than what I do. BECAUSE you have to have a towel to dry your but off. Always a towel around otherwise I am pulling up my panties to a very wet but. They make NO sense to me at all. How do you deal with it?

I guess, from what you write, that you're a woman. It's easy for me, as a man, to put a small cup 'in the right place' to catch just the mucus ; not every time, though. It can be a real surprise when I hear a massive quantity splashing down into the pan.

The mucus output only happens when I pass water. It interferes with one of the advantages that blokes have - namely standing up to pee. I could try larger pads which may catch all those ml but 1/2 pint a day would overwhelm any realistically sized pad.

I agree with your reluctance to try to solve this with surgery, though.

I have about the same quantity as you do, I have never measured mine because it is just too much of a problem to collect the mucus without getting my urine in it also. But I seem to have probably the same amount of mucus discharge as you do. All the time every time I go to pee. I use a saline solution enema to clean it out and that does help for a very short time. It does keep it clean though. My mucus is very creamy in a beige color, sometimes it comes out in little balls. And sometimes it is so stinky I can smell it throughout the house . I just deal with it because I cannot trust that another surgery is going to go well, I have had so many hospital stays because of bowel blockages that I hope to no have to go to the hospital. And I live about two house from the closest good hospital that will deal with blockages. Hence I just live with it and stay home a lot.

I have a similar problem to @bcstew. I had a colostomy op nearly two years ago to remove a tumor in the rectum;, along with some lymph nodes; about a third of the colon was removed, leaving a short rectal stump of about 4cm.

I can't complain because my stoma behaves itself pretty well, apart from a bit of irritation. It's the rectal stump that is so annoying. It produces vast quantities of mostly clear mucus. Whenever I pass water, my anus joins in and produces anything from 10ml to 40ml every time. I have to wear a pad all the time but I usually avoid the problem because I just don't stand to pee any more or the pad just overflows. I have to sit down. I measure the quantity of mucus fairly regularly and it varies from 10ml to 40ml every time. I estimate 250ml per day (That's about half a pint!!!) The colo-rectal department just say it's normal but what explains the huge quantity?

There is an added complication. I had a radical prostatectomy about ten years ago, followed by radiotherapy. The RT has left me with a bladder which (particularly since the colon surgery) has been irritated and with a low level infection. The bladder and the rectum seem to be talking to each other and cystitis and mucus levels seem to be related.

My question is basically is the production of half a pint of mucus, daily, a normal event? That sort of quantity never seems to be mentioned in discussions about rectal mucus; it's always nasty looking lumps that won't come out. Mine's clear and very liquid. Also, with such a small stump volume, I have to conclude that it's largely produced at the time of passing water.

Bidet. My life savior

That happened to me also, about four years after my colostomy I started having a discharge, it took me for ever to find out why it is happening. When we had the surgery that left a stump of a colon a few inches. We have mucus membranes in our colon to keep it moist and help the bowel movement pass easily. After the surgery we no long have anything passing, but the mucus membranes are still there and they become active because they have nothing to pass they pass the mucus discharge. I have never found anything to stop it.
One person a year or so ago told me that it is because we have no more short chain fatty acids going through or colon stump. He had actually tried fecal transplant to solve his problems. I actually tried that for a month or so and my doctor told me it was not a good thing to do so I stooped. My doctor says to just use an enema every morning to clean it out. It wont stop it but it keeps it clean. Good luck. I hate mine because it is having drainage all the time. I have found no solution.

That's interesting and implies that the rectal wall is trying to correct a rare situation by just producing excess mucus. That's new information for me as all I've been told is that the cells are only doing what's natural. But 250ml a day would not be 'natural' for a rectum with digested food passing through it.

I don't like to grumble as it doesn't hurt and a pad more or less sorts out the problem. But it could take a pretty big pad to deal with my 'peak flow'.