The Colon Club

Yeah, gross right? But the question needs to be asked.

Since my right colonectomy (32 lymph nodes), my bowel movements have been pretty regular, albeit runny, as is to be expected with half my pooh-vaporator (colon) missing. But of late, I have noticed that my poop is quite light in color with almost an orange cast to it. Since orange hints at red and red hints at blood, this concerns me a bit.

Not that I terribly miss my good ole brown pooh, but should I ask the doctor about this or is it normal?

orange i would be more concerned with a liver issue then blood.

missjv

missjv,

Can you expound on that?

You know, I wouldn't actually say it is ORANGE as in bright orange. It is more like it is a light color that maybe has a hint of orange in it. I know this sounds gross, but it is kind of like milk chocolate colored with a slight orange hue. I did eat some carrots recently (now that I think of it) and maybe that has something to do with it.

I know that liver problems can make poop orange, but I thing that is a more dramatic orange than this.

(Lordy, this stuff is gross to talk about!)

Just read this:

Gray stools, pale stools, putty or clay colored stools may be seen in hepatitis, gallbladder disorders, or malabsorption conditions. Bile salts in the stool excreted by the liver give it a normal brown color. Obstruction to bile flow out of the liver (you may see the word "cholestasis"), or liver infections like viral hepatitis (A, B, C, etc.), may produce clay colored stools. Possible causes for clay colored stool result from problems in the biliary system (the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas): Malabsorption problems can cause undigested fat in the stool (steatorrhea) which is characterized by foul smelling, light yellow to gray, greasy or frothy stools. This may also be caused by low bile output.

Malabsorbtion - hmmm, well, missing half mu colon would cause that I suppose. I'd say mine are more like putty or clay-colored. What concerns me is that during my surgery they saw small "cysts" on my liver, but took no biopsies (don't know why they didn't).

Ah, THIS is interesting and may explain it:

Stool starts out green , then turns bright yellow as it goes through the digestive tract. It is bile and bacteria that finally turn it brown. Yellow or green stools can indicate stool is passing through the digestive tract too rapidly not giving it a chance to change colour. Bright yellow stools can also indicate not enough bile / bilary obstruction.

Lol, been pooping all my life and did not know this .

....and there are intestinal viruses which can produce light to orange-yellow stool (coronaviruses), medications which can discolour stool, AND yes the pigmentary changes are as a result of bacterial actions and the presence of recycled and discarded hemoglobin products which exit the liver with the bile. ( bilirubin = very yellow, biliverdin = more greenish, urobilinogen = urine yellow and stercobilins = brown poop ) as I recall all this from biochem and physiology.

If you've had issues with hemoglobin and hematocrit, there may just not have been enough to discard or recycle ??

See, lots of colours to choose from !

Cheers
CRguy

CRGuy,

I just have to laugh at how utterly disgusting all of this is.

AND....." I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow.....I can sing a rainbow too ! "

verb substitution is entirely at the reader's option !

Cheers
CRguy

Since I spent a full 8 weeks after my liver resection with a hepatic drain, I became intimately acquainted with bile in all its varieties. When it's not infected, it's a lovely golden color similar to that of my mother's 1970 kitchen appliances!

When it is infected, it's closer to green -- similar to the other equally popular appliance color in the 70's. Hmmm . . .

If you're getting that bile color in the stool, then you're probably not looking at an obstruction of some sort. It's just moving through faster than the bacteria can turn it brown.

Lord almighty, you guys are loopy today!

Poop brings out the inner child in all of us

JUSTSING, and MitchellVII !
You have made my day !!!!!!!!!!

"Harvest" GOLD appliances !!!!!!!!!!
"AVOCADO GREEN" appliances !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rainbow coloured POOP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sorry to bore the rest of this forum, but YES I really am that old and ....LOOPY !!!!!

Up here in the great white north it is ( on my back deck....37C..... ) WAY hot Fahrenheit ! and coming up to July First..Canada Day and July Fourth...Independence Day,

SO I am letting loose a bit. Would I normally discuss poop colours ?? Yeah probably, BUT not with such enthusiasm !

" I can poop a rainbow, poop a rainbow............I can poop a rainbow TOO !!!!"

[[ MOLLY feel free to trash this post...hockey season is over and I am looking for new diversions ! ]]

Be well, all my friends.
Always in my prayers and in my heart.

Cheers
CRguy

After my last colonoscopy I had the runs for a fortnight. I've now settled into a bright golden color, eagerly awaiting the return of Mr. Brown.

Wow, my gentle thread has crossed the border into Weirdville and CRGuy is the Mayor .

All Rise,
and please come to order !

Mayor CRguy now presiding !