Illestomy reversal

Hi Indi

I've not had a reversal and have been told I'll not be getting one for other medical reasons so I cant advise you but what I can say is that we have many ex ostomates on this site who've had successful reversals and are now carrying on with their normal life.

I am sure that you'll be inundated with other members stories and encouragement very soon but in the meantime to get the ball rolling I'm tagging my friend  who be very useful to you before and after your reversal and will pass on all the tricks of the trade to help you leave your beloved pouches behind.

Good luck with the reversal and please keep in touch after the operation and tell us how you are getting on, your experiences are the encouragement to others in the same position.

Best wishes 

Ian

Thanks for your help. Yes I will keep in touch it is a relief and support  to hear from others 

Hi .

Just wanted to wish you well with your reversal this week. There are lots of people on here who are coping well with life after their reversal - mine was 16 months ago and I have no major issues. The early days can involve frequent toilet visits and you will eventually settle into a bit of a routine. My surgeon told me that my bowel movements would probably be similar to when my stoma was most active and that has been the case -evenings! 

Your bowels will not go back to your old normal but you will get used to a new normal. Everyone’s experience can be different - my friend takes prune juice as she gets constipated whereas I take loperamide to slow things down - as we now have less Bowel and storage area the body needs time to absorb water from the stools so they are not too runny.

I’ll chat to you more after your op but I would recommend practicing the sphincter exercises on page 15 of this book - if you get a sudden urge to go then it is better to ‘hold it in’ until the urge has passed than to run for the toilet and risk having an accident. It’s handy to have wet wipes at home and sudocream as your bottom can get very sore and I also wore panty liners for added security. I also found it useful to have a grab bag in hospital (ok a Sainsbury’s carrier bag in my case!) which contained wet wipes, pads, spare knickers and sudocream. I also found it helpful to have a few of my stoma disposable bags to hand - even the softest toilet paper can start to feel a bit rough after several visits so I used to use one of the large soft cleansing cloths that they give you to wash yourself with instead then pop it in the bag and in the bin.

Please let us know how you get on and don’t panic if things are a little stressful to start with - it really does improve over time

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/Regaining_Bowel_Control.pdf

Take care

Karen x

Thanks Karen,

Your reply was really useful and helped me to be a lot more positive about the reversal (many times I have thought I should just keep it!).  I am optimistic it will go through although it has been cancelled twice as fortunately I'm no longer an emergency!!  I imagine its a bit of a learning curve similar to when we first had our ileostomy; eating the right foods, eating smaller portions and introducing foods gradually.  Thanks for the article to look at and the tips....when you say a pad was it a sanitary towel or a larger pad?  I am anticipating more visits to the loo and trying to avoid some of the horror stories you can read on line!!  Thanks again it is so helpful to hear from others who have had the same or similar experiences.  I will be in touch after my reversal to let you know how I am going.

Look after yourself too..kindest regards Indi X

Hi

Always happy to help if I can! Yes there’s a lot of horror stories because people don’t tend to post just to say that everything is fine. Hopefully your op will go ahead - my surgeon described it as a nice filler-in between the big ops and I was up and dressed the day after. Be cautious with food straight after the op - I developed ileus after my main op and again after this one - try and have a few days on liquids if you can to get on the good side of your bowel again.

The hospital can provide you with pads while you’re in although the larger ones are quite bulky and cover you from spine to bellybutton. Having said that I did have an accident 1 night so was glad of it. Nowadays I just buy cheap panty liners but don’t need them if I’m honest - just force of habit really.

Fingers crossed that it’s 3rd time lucky!

Karen x

Hi ,

I had a colostomy on the transverse colon for five months last year. It was reversed on 10 October and by December I was travelling to South Africa to visit the family. The new normal that Karen mentioned took some getting used to: I went from being once a day every day to more or less everytime after I had anything substantial to eat (three times a day seems to be the norm now). Apart from having more regular bowel movement, I've not had any problems after the reversal, but keep in mind I had my stoma for a shorter period, no chemotherapy and lost none of my rectum.

Karen gave you some brilliant advice; especially going into hospital the "grab bag" is very handy. Essentially just a bag with anything you might need after doing a poo. Mine included baby wipes, Sudocrem, some large sanitary pads and a clean pair of knickers. As it turned out I ended up in a private room with its own bathroom, so the grab bag just lived next to the toilet, but it is useful to have it ready and close by if you are in a rush to get to the loo.

You are probably going to pass a lot of wind in the early days, but my top tip would be to not trust a fart! If you feel a wind coming on, best / safest to pass it sitting on the toilet until your bowels have settled down a bit.

Other than that, just keep doing those sphincter exercises and take it easy with the fibre in those first days and weeks.

Good luck with the operation next week, and do let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Yolande

Hi Karen,

Well thankfully my illestomy went ahead this time and although I was a lot more anxious before surgery I woke up with that usual sense of relief and joy!!  It went well and although the day after op was more difficult than I imagined as I felt full of wind and bloated,  but luckily I had a good recovery and was discharged on Tuesday.  In hindsight I am pleased I went ahead with it although instead of the initial runs to the loo I am tending to be the opposite with being bunged up!!  I am feeling well and took your advice with supplies to keep handy.  Thank you again for you support before the operation, finally I feel like I am back where I began after a crazy year!  I hope like you I can be of support to those on a similar journey.

Keep well and take care.  Thanks again

Indi x

Hi

Very glad to hear all went OK!

You mention being full of wind and bloated day after op... oh boy do I remember that! And I had lots of stomach cramps. But that turned out to be just just my stomach objecting to being empty for three days. The cramps went away as soon as they allowed me to have anything to eat.

Good luck for the rest of the recovery. And drink lots of water / fluids - it should help with being bunged up.

All the best,

Yolande