Sewn closed?

it feels the same to tense those muscles, i had to try it just now, lol.
Honestly having my butt removed was the hardest part for me to wrap my head around, one because it seemed so very strange but also because i could not get it through my head how you remove a hole! I mean that just seems impossible!
But it is! it looks the same pretty much back there and you cant really feel anything different, not that i am putting my hand back there all the time, but after the stiches came out i would feel it to make srue htere weren't any weird things like sores, and it really feels the same.
You do sometimes get feelings like you have to go poo. that is very annoying, but it goes away after a few minutes, i find that if i get where i have to pee really really bad i will get that feeling sometimes.

I don't know why it has to be done either, but everyone says it HAS to be done....?
Summer: thanks for your reply (I had fun laughing out loud). It's not the response I thought I'd get, but much better because it is so hard to fathom not having a hole. When you say it feels the same, do you mean you still feel a hole, there just isn't one? Like the scar tissue is formed like a fake hole?
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this concept too.

Boy, my answer will sound boring after Summer's!!

I had a Proctocolectomy because my Crohn's in my rectum was out of control (fistulas, strictures and pain).  I've had an ileo for many years and decided to have it all taken out...the reason for that was that the disease doesn't stop just because you have an ileo.  I never realized how bad things were until I didn't have them anymore!!  I'll add that meds weren't working well anymore.

They remove the rectum and either leave it to close or sew it closed.  The problem is that there usually is some kind on issue at some point!!  For me, mine closed just fine (sewn) after the removal, but about 6 months later I had an abscess and had to have it surgically cleaned out.  That one closed with the help of a Wound Vac...just what you think, a vacuum on your butt...and it has been fine since.  *knock on wood*

It wasn't really a big deal for me...I was worried about the phantom feeling of having to go poo, but I don't have any of that.  I, too, did the same thing as Summer and tried to see if I could still move the muscles...great minds...and they will still do all the things they did before, just no hole:)  I have a scare, but no fake hole!

I had Crohn's in the rectum, so that's why I had it removed. It was also in my large intestine, so out it went, too!

The surgeon did not sew my butt wound shut. She left it open, so it could heal from the inside out. To keep it from getting infected, I packed it with saline-filled gauze every day until it healed, which took about 9 months. It was not a big deal, but I sure was happy when it finally closed up.

My butt looks the same, except it doesn't have a hole anymore, which is fine with me, because having Crohn's in the rectum was a real pain in the butt! I don't have any pain or phantom feelings either.

Very good point, Mike. Unfortunately, there is an increased risk for colon and rectal cancer for people with UC and Crohn's. That's what happened with Tony Snow. He had UC for many years, and finally had surgery, but after cancer was discovered.

i had my colostomy for 10 years now. the hardest thing for me was dealing with not having a rectum anymore. the permanent colostomy i could deal with. i've had crohn's for a very long time and everything ever associated with,caused by or a symptom of crohn's including kidney stones. i was glad to have a colostomy. i remember the day i came from the hospital, my sister in law was very curious and asked if it was ok with me, could she see the ostomy cause she was studying to be a pharmacist and had never seen one. however,she said she didn't want to see any private parts. i asked her, "what,like my butthole?" and i laughed. she said, 'well,..yeah."  and i told her, "what do you think a colostomy is? "  it took her a minute to figure out that rerouting the hole from the rectum to the surface does not change the fact you still have an exit hole,it just chages the location. we still laugh about it and i did show her. i do still have the "phantom" urge to push every now and then but it goes away quickly. whenever somebody asks me how i feel about having it permanently, i tell them, "i'm alive,i have 2 kids and i'll never be a pain in the butt again!" and we have a good laugh. you can look at too that you'll never have to sit on a public toilet again!

Thanks for the replies. It'll be easier to deal with having everything gone since the consensus is that it doesn't really feel any different. Glad about that. The phantom pains sound weird though. I have the urge now, but that's when there is mucus in the rectum to empty, and that's annoying enough.