Hello,
I posted back in April to seek information about the Ileo rectal
anastomosis procedure. I had to have the surgery because of a long history of
Crohn’s and two findings of low grade dysplasia over two years from
colonoscopies.
I had the procedure on June 20 at John’s Hopkins by Dr. Jonathan Efron. It was done laparoscopically and initially it seemed like everything seemed
to have gone well. A few days after
surgery it was determined that I had an obstruction and it was decided to wait
and see if it would resolve itself. A
few more days they decided I needed a second surgery to clear the
obstruction. This was done open on July
3. Dr Efron was out of town so one of
his associated, Dr Gearhart did the surgery.
She said she cleared the obstruction and was able to run all the way
through the bowl and I was clear. We
started to advance my diet and got to solid food when I started vomiting. NG tube back in and it looked like another
obstruction.
We waited for a week or so and Dr Efron did a sigmoid scope
and found a narrowing about 20 cm above the anastomosis. Once again they assured me it would resolve
itself with time. Another week went by
and we decided to send me home with TPN and home health care to wait it out
there. They also put in a G tube for
draining. I was in the hospital for 32 days had two surgeries and I’m still not
really fixed. I’m waiting at home not
doing too badly but still not taking anything by mouth. I have a follow up
appointment with the surgeon on Monday aug 5.
I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and
if in fact this situation can resolve itself?
I’m trying to be patient but I am skeptical that this will resolve with
time. I am having 5-6 liquid BM a day and the tube is putting out about 500 cc
per day.
Any advice or experience you can share would be so much
appreciated. I walked into the hospital
feeling like a million bucks and now I am a shadow of myself having lost 30
lbs. and living on TPN
Thanks so much for listening.