Blood In Stool After Gastric Bypass? Gastric Bypass Recovery Period
If you find blood in your stool following a gastric bypass surgery, in most cases there is no need to be alarmed. The trauma that has been created throughout your bowels by the surgery causes small blood vessels to burst allowing blood to ooze into your stool. A small amount of blood in your stool is not an issue as it is a usual occurrence by anyone who undergoes almost any type of procedure that involves the bowels.
This small amount of blood may actually appear to look more like cranberry juice and in most cases it is perfectly normal. However if you have large amounts of blood in your stool that resembles more closely to that of tomato juice then you will need to contact your surgeon as soon as humanly possible.
As long as you are not seeing the signs of severe blood loss, waiting until the morning to call your doctor is fine. However in the event that the signs of major blood loss begin to appear go immediately to the emergency room. These signs of major blood loss include the feelings of being weak or even dizzy. Upon arrival to the emergency room make sure to inform the in-charge that you have just recently gone through a gastric bypass as it will speed up the process of fixing the issue. You will need to give the emergency room the date that the surgery took place as well as the name of the surgeon. In most cases the emergency room staff will immediately contact the surgeon who will come in and make the necessary repairs.
You will also need to inform your surgeon at your regular check-ups anything out of the ordinary that you have noticed. Even if you have not had to go to the emergency room for anything, reporting anything unusual may prevent a serious complication if the surgeon can diagnose I early enough.
Remember that having blood in your stool is a normal occurrence for any gastric bypass patient. Just remember to keep a watchful eye on the blood occurrences in your stool for any drastic changes which may lead to a major blood loss. Find out more about gastric bypass recovery.
