Did you know that paper is made by pressing together moist fibres of cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets? And that the cellulose content of cotton fiber is 90% Did you also know that the human body does not have the enzymes to break down paper, so paper will come out of the human body whole?

I’m sure I read about that all somewhere in the past, but decided to do some research on the topic after something strange happened to me the other night.

Now, for the past month or so, I’ve had extremely slow digestion and abdominal pain with chronic blockages.

Part of that is due to increased inflammation near my stoma. But something about the way my intestine was acting felt different.

I was so fed up with things the other night that I decided to irrigate A LOT (I try to limit irrigations to emergencies only because it’s not standard practice for an ileostomy and can cause more inflammation/irritation).

After irrigating more than 1200 cc of stool, I irrigated out what looked like a piece of paper! I freaked out and flushed it down the toilet on impulse. I immediately regretted not saving the evidence….I swear it was a piece of paper. Or tape. Or cotton. I really have no clue, but it was not food. It was a whole piece of something. It was smooth and had completely straight edges. It wasn’t even wrinkled!

Anyway, I don’t know if I accidentally swallowed something with paper at some point or if something was left in during a surgery or procedure, but the foreign substance is gone.

I’m happy to say that after that experience, drinking nothing but clears that night, and taking in nothing solid for two days, I have much less pain and a little bit out output. Still a ways to go, but it’s the most progress I’ve had in weeks.

Things are looking up! 

…..Kind of along the same topic, I had another experience in 2010 of a VERY LONG wiry (possible stitch) type material come out of my anus 3 years after my initial Jpouch surgery! I freaked out then too because I thought it was just a hair in my butt crack. Definitely not a hair! It hurt to pull out and again I discarded the evidence before being able to show it to a doctor because I was in such shock. My doctor said it was probably a stitch that never dissolved. That was one long stitch!

……so the question is, has anyone else had any strange medical experiences lately?