fistula and brown smelly discharge

[kmoe]

My sister had tumor grow after surgery so started chemo as soon as possible. Report from surgery was some scattered disease left in pelvic culdesac peritoneum and sigmoid colon posterior. Stage 2C all other organs clear. CATSCAN 11 days after surgery showed mass and radiologist said it was tumor growing back. Several days after chemotherapy she developed a vaginal/rectal fistula with stool and a foul smelling brown and yellowish discharge, a lot of it. It isn't stopping either. Not infected. She had bleeding from rectum for a few days with bowl movement but bowl control is better now with no bleeding. Could this all be cancer being killed off to cause fistula and discharge be tumor breaking down? She still has pain when sitting that she had post surgery so that may be nerve damage. Walking has improved. It's been a nightmare with original tumor blocking sigmoid and ureters and waiting over 4 days in hospital with this condition on constant morphine and up every hour. Urgent but not an emergency according to surgeon. Just looking for some hope with this chemotherapy.

[teleia]

I had a hysterectomy on dec 9th of this year and today noticed a foul brown discharge...i take it i should go back to gynocologist to determine the cause...it has me worried after reading your post

[loralai]

I know this is a late posting but I had a similar situation. After my surgery to remove cyst and prior to starting chemo I also developed a smelly discharge. It got worse after a few days so I went to ER. I won't get into all the gross details but it ended up being an abcess that was draining from surgery. The resident surgeion thought I had a fistula also which they told me is a hole at top of vagina that stool leaks through. Scary stuff. A barium enema diagnosed me as no fistual...and after some antibiotics and fluids pumped into me for 3 days I was okay. I should never have been in the hospital that long but it was a holiday weekend and my oncol was on vacation..crazy!! He apologized up and down. I should have gone home the same day. Is the smell gone now???

[kmoe]

I am sorry about the confusion. She had the surgery but had to wait 5 days in the hospital with blocked colon and ureters. Post surgery report from Dr. said some scattered disease left on sigmoid colon and pelvic areas. Before chemo a mass in pelvis showed up on CATSCAN as she was having pain. The discharge and fistula started after chemo but she appears to be getting better, other than the burning from fistula, after almost 2 weeks post chemo. I believe the tumor is breaking down and discharging, I hope. As mentioned I also believe the chemo caused fistula after cancer on colon was removed. She bled for a few days after that when she went to the bathroom, not in between. Bowl and bladder control seem better also. I hope her pain goes away so we can weed her off the morphine some day. I believe God is watching over her as things looked very bleek and hope was faiding but I sense a change. Thanks for your concerns.

[embla_2010]

E.R. RIGHT NOW.......

The things that can happen in this sitution are NOT nice, infact there are NO nice things that will come of this UNLESS this is taken to the E.R.

[SimplyStar]

any time you have brown smelly drainage from the rectal/vagina area is definitly an emergency, you say no infection, but there is something going on that needs immediate treatment to prevent a very serious infection. At the very least she needs antibiotics to fight this. some chemo drugs attack the colon  and cause a perferation, this needs a trip to the ER now.

[dian07]

This is an emergency...your sister needs to get to the emergency room now....fistulas, stool, blood and pain definately constitute an emergency!!
Where are you, anyway?  I cannot imagine a surgeon, even a poor, one stupid enough to say this is "not an emergency"...it's just "urgent"....please take her to the emergency room and let us know how she is doing.
Peace.
dian