Posted 1/20/2016 7:45 PM (GMT 0)
I had a temporary ileo in 2010. I needed it because of 18 inches of colon being removed following a sigmoid volvulus. The original surgery was in early May. Complications (including a bout of hospital caused pneumonia), pushed the reversal from a two week time frame to the middle of July.
The reversal surgery itself is pretty straightforward. I checked myself in around 7AM for a 9AM surgery time. That was a first for me, as my other operations had all been from emergency conditions. My surgeon decides against suturing the site where the ileo had been, preferring to let it drain, so as not to cause any infection during the healing process. The procedure took about two hours from start to finish as I recall. The rest of the day was spent in bed. The next morning, they removed the catheter (thank GOD for that) and got me up into a chair, then got me walking in the early afternoon. Along about 10PM or so, I began to get quite a lot of stomach gas, and by quite a lot, I mean I could have powered the City of San Francisco for a week with it. My surgeon had told me to expect it and to walk when I got it. So, I walked.....and walked.....and walked.....and for good measure, I walked some more. I walked from about 10PM to about 4AM, so the nurses saw a lot of me. Around 4AM, I passed gas, which was met with much joy and celebration from me and from the nursing staff. Then, about an hour later, I had a bowel movement. I think that by the time 8PM rolled around, I had made about 15 to 20 bowel movements. The surgeon decided to take pity on me and had the nurse give me something to help slow me down. I was in the hospital for about 4 days.
At home, I was able to shower and do most things regularly, although I had to be careful not to lift anything too heavy. My wife helped in keeping the wound site clean, which was a strange sensation, as she had to use a cotton swab, and watching the head of the swab disappear into my abdomen was disconcerting, to say the least. Overall, I was back in good enough condition to get back to the gym in about 4 weeks.
Diet-wise, I stuck with the ostomy diet for about two months after the reversal, gradually adding in more an more foods as time went by. There were no hiccups with anything I added. The one thing I did discover was that I had never really properly hydrated myself. I found this out because I did have to return to the hospital a couple of times because of small bowel obstructions. They were always addressed in less than a day by giving me IV fluids. But it taught me a lesson not to skimp when it comes to water.
The other thing I found was that, early on, one shouldn't drink much, if any, alcohol. We went on a cruise with my in-laws, so I drank what I thought was a relatively small amount of wine. But between the wine and the lack of proper hydration, one of those blockages I mentioned resulted.
Overall, however, the reversal went quite smoothly. Knock on wood, I haven't had any stomach issues since that time.