Reversal of ileostomy

I would like to wish you all the best with your surgery Frank. When you are feeling strong enough please come back and let us know how you are getting on.

Take care

Sue

Hello everyone,
The reversal surgery was performed on Tuesday 12/13/05 and I was released to come home today (Thursday 12/15/05). I had a minor amount of pain for several hours post-op but nothing since. Bm's started about 24 hours after surgery and have been quite frequent. My Dr. has prescribed some meds to slow down the motility, but I haven't taken it yet. So far so good. I'll keep you updated.

I hope that you are still doing well Frank

Sue

Hello Cathy,

 I am 2 weeks post-op now and I am feeling great! I am on a low residue diet util tomorrow but I'll confess that I have gone outside the low residue limitations during the holidays. At first I had very frequent BM's (for the first 2 days). They have tapered to about 4-5 per day now and are mostly formed. I have experienced very little pain or discomfort. The site of the incision drains a lot and the dressing has to be changed 2 x per day but other than that it's been a breeze. I have no complaints and I'm looking foreward to returning to work in February. 

Best of wishes on your surgery and I hope you are as lucky as I!

Frank

Good luck Frank. You must be soo excited.

I've had my ileostomy for 20 years..I am 20 years old..that's right I got it when I was a week old. Crazy! Anyway my whole life i've hated it..growing up when kids can be crewel and having a bag doesnt help at all.

For the past 2 years i've been going from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital to see if i could get it removed..either way I need some surgery because the ileostomy I have now is horrible. It is very retracted and it leaks every single day and the skin around the stoma is horribly raw. I'm afraid to leave the house for more then an hour in case it leaks. Most 20 year olds are out a the bar having a good old time but not this one!

Anyway I go in for surgery in 5 days (jan 18th). I won't know until I wake up if I was able to get rid of my ileostomy or if I have a new one..dear god I hope I get rid of it. I've had many many surgeries over the years of my life but this one is by far the most scary.

I read a forum about the lady who's husband thought it was gross..I couldn't believe it. I'm engaged to a 26 year old guy who is the absolute best about it. I was terrified to tell him about it when i met him in case he thought it was gross pretty much, but he says it makes me unique and no matter which way my surgery goes he will never look at me differently. He's was constatly asking questions about it because he is so interested when we were first together and though some were hard to answer I was just happy that he accepted it as part of me. If aannyyone with an ostomy or someone close to them has one wants to email me about anything please do so, i'm only 20 but I have 20 years experience and I think i've been through it all!

I really like this site by the way..thanks to whoever invented it. my email address is [email protected] laugh i made it when i was 13.

Ashley

Thanks Frank.

How old are you? I'm lucky because the doctors at Sick Kids in Toronto are letting me stay there to get my surgery done..usually after 18 you have to go to an adult hospital but i've been dealing with sick kids literally my entire life and they know my history better then anyone so it makes sense to just stay there.

The thing im worried about the most is if i do get reconnected i thinkt he surgery they will use is to remove my entire large bowel. This is waht absorbs water so i'm worried that I will have constant diarrhea or that I will be going to the washroom every half hour or something. What did they do when you got reconnected?

Hi, I wanted to let Ashley know that I have been living without a large intestion for 37 years.  I have had 3 colostomies and 3 ilestomies. I will be having my ilestomy reversed next week!!!! I was told 6 years ago that due to the fact that I only have half of my small intestins (and no large)  I would have the ileo for ever!  But I thankfuly found a very good surgen to do the operation.  I have the first part in Nov 2005 and he also did a hysteroctomy and removed my gall blader when he did the anastomosis.  Now I am ready for the take down.  I wanted to let you know that you may go the bathroom more that the average person but It will not be as bad as you think as I said I havent hade a large intestine since I was five and have functioned well when I was conected.  Please excuse the spelling and typing errors I am, at work and am trying to get this out as fast as possible.  Good luck, Maureen

Hi my name is jean and I had an ileostomy last November and am going to have the reverse done either March or April.  Would like to hear from anyone who has had this surgery done and what problems (if any) you could tell me about.  Not sure what to expect! thanks   jean

Hi Frank,

It has been almost a month since my surgery and everything's great  accept i'm going so frequently that i'm sore and losing a lot of sleep. I'm taking imodium and it is helping a bit but I really need to get some sleep. Which meds did your doctor prescribe for you to slow things down and are they working? Please let me know. Thanks!

Ashley

Hi everyone. I'm nnew to post, my husband (39 years old) is relatively new to Crohn's. Had a very quickly escalating case of Crohn's - after 7 weeks in hospital this fall, has a colectomy/ileostomy following perforation, complications and a few close calls. We were so happy he survived and was able to have a reconnection surgery 1/18 of this year. My question, is what's normal for recovery? He's about 3 1/2 weeks post surgery now, and is still extremely exhausted. His mood is quite different from before Crohn's - testy/cranky. His arms and shoulders are sore on a daily basis.

I'm not sure what's normal, and what should be cause for concern. In hindsight, I can't believe we missed that the disease was raging so rampantly in his body in the first place. I'm a little paranoid that we might be missing other bad signs...

Hi Jean,

I am having some problems with the BM's still but it has only been 3 weeks and the doctors told me before surgery it could take up to a few months until i'm going normally again. After a major surgery like that my intestine just needs to remember how to function properly. As for Frank, I think he's some kind of miracle or something haha. In the hospital for only 2 days and having formed BM's after only 4! Crazy! Wish that was me.

As for your questions i'll answer all of them the best I can.

You do not need ot be on medication forever to help slow down the BM's, but my surgeon put me on imodium (its just a little pill that disolves on your tongue and tastes minty). It is helping more and more everyday and last night I actualy only got up 3 times to go! I will be on this med just to train my bowel how it is supposed to work and then I can stop.

Foods that I was told not to eat right now are high fiber foods because they cause you to go to the washroom more (i'm trying to slow that down). Eat lots of cheese, bananas, peanut butter, white bread (food that bulks up the stool). I'm actually not allowed to eat veggies right now because they eithe rmake you go more or make you gassy.

All activities are definately ok to resume as soon as you feel up to it. I wasnt allowed to drive until 3 weeks after surgery. As soon as you are no longer in pain you can do whatever. My problem is still slowing down the BM's so that I can leave the house and not worry about finding a washroom.

I did need to wear a 'diaper' for a week or so after surgery just in case I had an accident. It was cald 'poise control underwear' or something. I just called it a diaper . I did have a few accidents for a while but the doc was amazed at the control I now have for holding it. I can hold it for quite a while but everyone is different. I am still wearing a liner in case of an accident and because I have to apply cream to my bum to help with soreness but as soon as that is all healed I won't need that anymore either.

I had my bag for 20 years and I was prepared to do anything I had to to get rid of it and I am so happy that I got the reversal. To be honest for a week afterwards I wondered if i made a mistake because it is a hard process to go through but things quickly got better and if i could go back in time i wouldnt change a thing.

I hope I answered everything you needed. If you have any other questions just let me know.

Bye for now!

Ash

No problem Jean. Anytime!

I just wish I had someone  to talk to before my surgery so I could be a little more prepared for it and set my mind at ease. So if there's anything I can help with i'm here.

Ash