What Blood in Stool Means to Crohn's Patients

The first time I saw blood in my stool, I was terrified. It was about two months after I'd been diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and the doctor had somehow neglected to tell me this could happen. I was certain that something, somewhere, had ruptured, and I was going to die. I called my sister, and had her drive me to the emergency room. I had seen reddish, sort of maroon-colored blood in my stool (which, not uncommon for me, had come out as diarrhea), and I told this to the emergency room doctor. I needed the bathroom again in the middle of our conversation, and the nurse had me collect the fecal matter so they could examine it.

I was next given a colonoscopy, which is an unpleasant test I've undergone too frequently. When it was all over, the doctor sat down with me and first assured me that I wasn't about to die. He explained that probably as a result of the Crohn's, I had diverticulitis, or small pouches in the wall of my colon (there are other possible causes, but this was mine). The pouches, or diverticuli, can contain blood, and result in blood in the stool. He told me that it didn't look severe, and would probably heal by itself, but that if I continued to have blood in my stool for more than a couple of days, I should see my doctor, as I might need further treatments. He felt that I didn't need treatment at that time, so I went home and worried anyway.

Because I always want to know about what is happening inside my body, I looked up "blood in the stool" -- that was a very long time ago, so I was looking in medical books, not on the Internet. I learned that there are essentially three types of blood in the stool. Reddish or maroon blood visible in the stool is called hematochezia. The color of this blood in the stool is red because its source is lower in the intestinal tract, usually in the colon, and sometimes in the anal area, so the blood hasn't been sitting in the intestinal tract for very long. It is usually, for Crohn's patients, from diverticuli in the colon, although it may be from anal fissures caused by Crohn's. Although it is rarely serious, it should always be seen by a doctor, who can rule out more serious causes, including colon cancer.