Surgery to remove rectum

welcome Dianna,

i'm about to have that same surgery on Aug 25. i had a subtotal colectomy with ileo-rectal anastamosis on Aug 2009. they removed almost my whole colon except for 25 cm from anus up, meaning the rectum and some of the sigmoid colon, and attatched my ileum to the sigmoid. on July 2010 i had a loop ileostomy done. had both surgeries done laparoscopically. my rectum is causing me a lot of pain. it produces mucous, as should, but i can't expel it cuz of a pelvic floor dysfunction. enemas don't help and the building up mucous is causing me a lot of pain.

i can tell you what i know so far. surgeon said he'll have to cut my pelvic, where the anus is. also he's going to go in thru my old bikini line incision (horizontal cut about 8 cm). he said surgery will take around 2.5 hrs (they messure that according to your weight - i'm 1.64 cm and weight 50 kg). recovery is 6 weeks. the butt wound is the hardest part to heal. the stoma will be located at the same place it is now. for pain controle they will use epidural for first few days, then idk, maybe iv meds i guess. they are going to remove everything and close my anus shut.

that's what i know so far. hope this helps. maybe someone who went thru it can tell you more.

I just had all of this done on the 15th. I had my colon, rectum and anus removed. They built my ileostomy stoma & closed my bum hole.

Each surgeon and hospital is a bit different in how they manage pain control - I would discuss that with your to be sure you are both in agreement. For me, the procedure was done as 2b ColonFree described. My hole is closed with both staples and stitches. It is not very comfortable - I still have them in. My pain control was IV Tylenol, Dilaudid & Toradol. They have a special cushion called a waffle cushion you may need to ask for. Also a great thing has been these mesh underwear they have for maternity patients. I am still too uncomfortable to wear most of my pants - so I wear mostly loose skirts or low hanging gym shorts. I'm not allowed to take baths or do sitz baths, but I did buy a hand-held shower head that has been great for when I can't take the itching. I'd say 3-4 times a day I jump in the shower and hose it down.

thank you for your good thoughts and wishes, DSZ. i'm pretty stressed about this surgery, esp about the butt healing issues. i think you'll feel a whole lot better having your rectum removed. inflammations, leaking is no way to live. i wish you best of luck too!!

thank you so much DSZ, i will keep in touch! hope we both go thru this as best as possible. one more week... excited and scared. i was thinking about your question too and also if it's possible to insert a tampon when i get my first period after surgery...? i think i will post a new topic on that. why does your surgeon wants to wait so long? why not just do it now?

2b and Musicmaker - nothing is TMI. I appreciate your openness - that's exactly what I'm looking for.

2b - I haven't actually seen the surgeon yet, not until 8/28. I started a new job at a University and have only been there 6 months, so I'm trying to wait until the winter holiday break to have surgery. Things shut down for 2 weeks - so I'm thinking if I schedule surgery for the beginning of December that will minimize the time I actually have to take off and be out of the office. Another source of anxiety with this whole thing - being new at a job and knowing that I have to do this darn surgery, lol.

Musicmaker - Ouch! I'm sure each time will get better, and I hope it does so quickly. I really really hope that they don't go through my old incision (from original colectomy and 2nd surgery for hernia repair).

Thanks again!

Hey DSZ, regarding intercourse, for me it seems like everything is tighter and also... shorter -- can't have thrusts as deep as in the past. I think this is also due to the fact that my cervix seems to be more sensitive than it used to be -- I've had a Pap smear since the rectum removal and it was WAY more uncomfortable than I ever remember them being. Other than that I've been OK -- I was able to have intercourse without too much trouble about four weeks after the rectum removal. Maybe could have earlier but didn't particularly want to because my "bikini cut" incision was so tender.