Reversal of my stoma

So my Operation date has been set for the 23rd of December 2013 been waiting a long time.

i had an ileostomy surgery back in February this year, and was told i was having a temporary stoma to help me heal from everything that crohns has given me. i was due to have surgery in august but for personal reasons i asked to postpone this. i am currently at university and finish my first semester in less than 2 weeks.

so my question is..(for those who have had experiece of a reversal) whats it's like and what should i be expecting...

here's what i have in mind... relatively minor surgery in comparison to the 2 major ops i had back in Feb resulting in a month's stay in hospital. so a week's stay in hospital? what is the pain like? surely cant be worse than I've had it before; especially now that i am healthy.

im expecting my bottom to hurt since its not been used in a long time..just gotta deal with that i suppose.. takes time to get used to bowel movements...will i ever go back to what is perceived as 'normal', i hope so even if it takes a few months to settle in.

My biggest concern is the wound/scar ... what is it going to look like... is it just a hole? surely it cant just heal like a needle hole? what will it look like after it has healed. it has taken me sometime to accept the fact that i have my current scars.

Also University restarts on the 6th of January 2014...what are the chances of me recovering in time for that...or should i just take a week or 2 of and rest?

should i be scared? or am i overreacting?

thanks

I believe it is much more simple than the Ileostomy operation.

In fact, out of curiosity I looked up youtube videos of a Ileostomy reversal (not a pleasant video). However the whole video was only 20 minutes long and that involved cutting around the stoma, pulling it out, cutting the end part of the stoma that came out of the body, making the hole bigger, getting the other end of the bowel and pulling it out the stoma whole. Stitch both together, place back inside, seal up the stoma hole. All over in 20 minutes.

It looks way easier to do, less time under general and the recover sounds to be much faster. Although I don't think you will be recovered and all well by the 6th Janurary. I would just take the extra 2 weeks off to recovery and heal properly.

Not speaking from experience just what I've heard from doctors and nurses.

Best of luck

Thanks for that buddy
Yeah I had a look at some YouTube videos not vert nice but thats whata gonna happen to me
Also for I have both parts of ny intestine already as a stoma so should be relatively easy to attach

Tagging Samboi who recently had a reversal.

Hi S92
I had my stoma for around 18 months and had the reversal in Aug this year.
It is a breeze compared to the formation surgery.
I had very minor wound pain. The only major pain was from wind. I had a few days where I felt pretty ordinary because of this.
Everything started working pretty quickly and it's actually quite amazing how rapidly your body bounces back.
My scar is about 10cm long. It is a line at either end. The middle is larger and reflects where I had frequent skin burns from output as well as one bit where it had active disease and was not joined to anything.

A few weeks into my recovery I did have some intense scar healing pain, but it passed quickly. So don't be surprised if this happens.

I ate a low res diet to start with and probably started on high fibre too quickly.

Good luck with your reversal - hope it goes great.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

Samboi said:

Hi S92
I had my stoma for around 18 months and had the reversal in Aug this year.
It is a breeze compared to the formation surgery.
I had very minor wound pain. The only major pain was from wind. I had a few days where I felt pretty ordinary because of this.
Everything started working pretty quickly and it's actually quite amazing how rapidly your body bounces back.
My scar is about 10cm long. It is a line at either end. The middle is larger and reflects where I had frequent skin burns from output as well as one bit where it had active disease and was not joined to anything.

A few weeks into my recovery I did have some intense scar healing pain, but it passed quickly. So don't be surprised if this happens.

I ate a low res diet to start with and probably started on high fibre too quickly.

Good luck with your reversal - hope it goes great.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

Click to expand...

Wow thanks for the reponse

So you are now 4 months in recovery? What is it like? How quickly did you get used to using the toilet as normal again? It must of hurt you're ass after it not being used for 18 months, right?

Ill probs take things slow with my diet , I plan on going to the gym again once I feel confortable doing so, im assuming a few months rest should do it

Thanks, just got so many questions as its a scary thing to go through but at tge same time im looking forward to it

When you start using it again - the biggest confusion is whether it's a poop or a fart. That takes ages to get the hang of again - it's its not worth taking chances - assume every one is a poop!
You start of with frequency - then it settles.
I have a bidet - so avoided getting butt burn.
My bum got back into the swing of things pretty quickly though.
My first proper poop was about a month after surgery from vague memory. There was much rejoicing of this.

Exciting times ahead for you!!

Oh wow, that sounds kinda scary not knowing whether you need to pass wind or take a shit, all comes with time I suppose.

Hows your wound/scar healing? Good/slow etc? Still wearing bandage?

Thanks

I just have a scar now.
It sometimes feels kinda weird.
It looks a bit like a messed up tummy tuck.
But I really like it.