Blood

I have never really had a problem with blood or other bodily fluids. That is a good thing where Gut Girl is concerned since any given day may give us poop, urine, blood, ostomy output, barf, spit and an assorted other bunch of liquids that we can't quite identify.

These all need to be found, cleaned up and thought about before we go on to the good parts of Ellie's day.

Stool, urine and ostomy output (think greenish milk) all get weighed and logged to make sure that neither too much or too little is coming out which could mean dehydration. Dehydration is very bad, even though we have extra IV bags to give her fluids.

Barf, even though it has been rare in the last few months, does make an appearance every now and then. If she barfs we have to think about what it was, what and how she ate, and what it means for her next feeding.

Blood only shows up every now and then. Most often it is around her G-tube which is always angry (like a hole in your belly should be) and sometimes it bleeds a little bit. It is never red blood and mostly shows up as a dark splotch on a dressing.

Her ostomy also bleeds red blood a bit when we change bags or if Ellie has been lying in her belly a lot. It is unnerving to see red blood anywhere on her but we both realize that her bowel is naturally red because of all of the tiny blood vessels that line it and sometimes they will bleed a bit. Last night's bag change caught her in the perfect combination of situations with her really mad (the ostomy will swell if she gets angry, like the Incredible Hulk) and after a day of playing on the floor. Because of this her ostomy bled a good bit. We cleaned it up, but it was a new experience in the long line of things that we do every day.

I've gotta go and change the cotton balls in her ostomy. Again.