Ostomy

So last week my Colon Rectal Surgeon mentioned having a tempory Ostomy to treat my fistula.  I do not want to do this as I don't see the logic of have a tempory Ostomy when we don't know how long tempory is and if it works there is always that high chance that the fistula will come back.  I have been reading online this morning about people with Crohn's that have had tempory Ostomy's and I do not see a high sucess rate.

Things are starting to reach the point of ridiculous with the Surgeon's Office, I went to see him on Monday and had mentioned that the setons had backed up over the weekend and were very painful but seemed to start draining Sunday night and I was pain free at my visit.  But wouldn't you know it the same thing happened after I left his office and when I called and spoke to the nurse I asked about antibiotics, more pain meds to get through the holiday, and making another visit.  She was supposed to check with the doctor and call me back.  In the meantime she wanted me to call my Gastro to get a better solution to treat the Crohn's.  My Gastro is at the end of his rope, we have tried everything but at least he returned my call.  The Surgeon's office never called me back!!!! Luckily my Gastro doctor wrote me the scripts I needed.  I am so mad at my Surgeon's office right now and I am going to be giving them a piece of my mind when I go in today.

So I have two questions.  How many people have had sucessful fistula (Crohn's related) repair with an Ostomy?  And I had this fistula for 9 years and when I moved out of state my old Gastro wanted me to do a treatment of Remicade to hold me over until I could find a new doctor.  Well, during the second session I apparently had an allergic reaction to the Remicade (which I always knew it was possible to build up antibodies) but I didn't freak out about the allergic reaction as much as the nurse and doctor so I am willing to try a session or two of Remicade again if it will work.  I really feel that the session and a half I got of the Remicade was what healed it for 3 years.  Is it worth the risk?  Not that I have been able to convince my Gastro doctor that it is.

Maybe they could try giving you premeds like IV Pred and Benedryl before a Remicade infusion and see how it goes??? Just a thought!

I don't have the same issues as you do, but I have been maintained using just Asacol for the past 6 yrs. Hugs!

They usually only use Pentasa before resections. But looks like you have already had resections, so thats probably why they have you on Asacol now.

More than likely if you had reactions after being premedicated, then they won't probably want to try it again. I have not had experience with fistula's, but was wondering would antibiotics like Cipro or something like that help? Sorry not more help. Hugs!

My surgeon also suggested that I may need a temporary ostomy.  However, after doing an exam under anesthesia he decided he is going to perform the flap procedure since my Crohn's is mild and currently not causing me any problems.  He says it's a risk and he normally doesn't perform the flap procedure on Crohn's patients.  He is going to use a bit of extra caution (2 day stay v. 1 day stay in hospital, 10 days off work v. 5 days, etc.).  I am very hopeful that this will get rid of my fistula.  He says if it fails, I may then need an ostomy at some point. 

My GI doc would not even consider Remicade for me.  I tried Asacol and Lialda and had a very bad reaction to both so I am not on any Crohn's meds currently. 

Good luck to you!

Hi...my husbands has had fistulas forever and this past year it git really bad because his Crohns was at its worst flare continuously. He kept getting fevers, abcesess, etc. Then 8/2010, he got 6 seton bands put in which didn't really help because there was so much drainage from his active CD. Also, he couldn't sit for 8 months because it hurt so much. On 10/31/11, he got a permanence Ostomy done and his fistulas are starting to heal. The drainage is starting to decrease tremendously and his surgeon said he will most likely pull out the seton bands soon.

So, maybe a temporary Ostomy will help you and give your bowels a time to rest.