Colostomy to Ileostomy

Why do you think that your life would be worse with an ileostomy? You already wear a pouch. No difference. Please explain what you are concerned about.

Dan

Sorry for not explaining myself well. Have just joined this forum so need abit of practise! So i have a colostomy and the actual stoma doesnt give me any bother. I have no problem with sore skin and very rarely have leakage. My problems come from thr bowel which doesnt function properly and therefore I have issues with alot of foods, bloating, horrendus wind and cramping. The symptoms mimic cronic IBS but with the added issues of having a colostomy as well.

My concerns are should i just put up with my bowel issues in return for a problem free colostomy OR should I go through surgery to have an illeostomy and be free from the bowel issues but with a harder to manage illeostomy.

I say harder to manage illeostomy - that is just from what I have learnt from others, that the illeostomy is more liquid therefore more prone to leakage and sometimes sore skin. Is this the case?

My biggest issue is wind and bloating - does illeostomies suffer from very noisey painful wind. And what other differences are there between the colostomy and illeostomy.

Thanks for your time and patience - please ask questions if i havent explained myself .

I don't have skin problems or leaking. I did in the beginning but that was becasue I was new to it and I didn't know what products to use. I think the positive of the colostomy, from what i've read, is that it's not going all the time. You can use closed end pouches and not drain often. At the same time, if the stool is more firm, it must be obvious under clothes if there's a big firm stool there? I always wondered about that... With the ileo, it just drops into the pouch and you can tuck it into your pants or wear a garment to hide it.

No one complains about gas more than I do. I don't have noisy really but it is frequent an it makes the bag puffy. That's the worst. So yes, it's a problem. I've also heard the gas filters work better with colostomies, mine gets clogged right away and doesn't let any air out.

Can you get an internal pouch? if you have a working rectum you might be able to do a direct connection. Is yours permanent? What excites me most about an internal pouch is the possibility that i can pass wind again and not buy supplies :)

I doubt an end ileostomy would be worse than a loop colostomy. (Don't, whatever you do, have a loop ileostomy.) Just make sure your surgeon understands the importance of creating a good 'spout', since flush (i.e. level with the skin) ileostomies are a nightmare. If you have an end ileostomy with a decent spout, then your skin should be okay. Finally, I recommend using a ring barrier like Eakin seals: they really do help in preventing the output from seeping under the wafer.

What I dunno is whether an ileostomy would help with your current bowel issues. If they are all caused by your remaining colon, then it should. However, you'll still have wind after surgery and possibly a lot. For me, the wind got a lot better after the first year, but for a gassier person it may always be bad.

I'm sorry I can't help more. All I can say is if I was in your shoes, I'd probably have the surgery.