Hello,My mother is 77 yr old.She was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma ,she had to do 6 rounds of strong chemo ,cancer was gone by the 3rd round wished we and doctors had sense to stop chemo then. by the 4 month she started going down not being able to walk far and no appeitie ,we knew chemo was why ,but we chose not to do the last treatment ,something wasnt right ,by the next week she was in congestive heart failure and septic ,she had a absess on bowel caused from diverticulas (she always had a mild case in the past nothing crazy ),they used antibotics to shrink ,but doctor on call wanted to go in ,by no staff on weekend so they waited, so doctor figured antibotics was working .So my mother was in hospital from July 14 till Aug 1st.Came home with a TPN bag because she was malnourished from the chemo months earlier ,she had no appeite.
I lived with her noticed a week later her belly looking swollen went to ER Aug 8th her bday sat for 6 hours ,got a room after 2 days in ER no beds ,did test thought she might have a block apparently didnt see anything was sending her home a week later on a Sunday l ask doctor that was discharging her could he please take one more Xray and sure enough a blockaged and she had emergency surgery And she woke up with 2 bags One is a loop Colostomy and the other a Mucous Fisluia l believe that one is what the name is just occasionally has muscous come out the other is liquid to pudding consistency.
She was very depressed after seeing bags and scar ,surgeon put stomas very close to incision ,and feces was going into incision right before it was almost healed and she got sespic again this time she almost Died was in ICU for weeks and was moved up stairs ,waiting to be going to a Rehab center ,Basiclly a nursing home which was horrible .So now mom was brought in Aug 8 th to Sept.15th at the hospital ,Was brought to nursing rehab ,but they did nothing she was there to learn to walk again since she was in bed the whole time ,l finally took over changed her wafers the nurses did nothing l caught that her incision looked like gettting infected which they biospyed and it was ,gave antibotics to clear before it got worst ,finally l said im takin my mom home and will rehab myself that last 1 week they statred getting her up ,l believe they wanted my mother to become a resident ,and they realizes l wasnt going anywhere ,l went there everyday after work and cleaned her up and brought her food ,So long story short ,Its time where my mom wants to be reverased ,the Surgeon gave us all these scary things that can happen during and after surgury ,l guess this Surgeon is the best and he said hes done worst surguries what ever that means and now l dont want her to do , l do want her to do though but im so scared and so is she ,He had her do a colonoscopy ,but he wasnt able to do because he mentioned scar tissue and didnt feel doing another one would matterr .
l do blame chemo ,neglect from hospital and nursing home ,she was at a bad state to begin with but now shes healther and chemo free and cancer free .She had the surgry bags Aug 15 th and it took months for incision to heal l had to pack it and everything ,so just nervous to have to do all over again..Her surgery is May 1st /23 and not sure if we should cancel and wait ,he told her just to think about ,l know doctors have to tell you all the bad ,but l wished he mention the good as well ,he never said he wouldnt do or didnt suggest the surgury ,but l felt like he wanted us to read between the lines.We were so excited to do the reversal The loop colostomy the doctor said small surgury ,but the other bag that goes to anus reattaching is the bigger 2 or 3 hour surgery So ,im wondering did anyone go through the same thing or chose to do or not do surgery and do you regret your deciision ,thanks
Hi JoshA and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
It sounds like you and your mom have had an incredibly difficult time recently so I can understand why you are both nervous about her upcoming surgery.
I don't have the experience you're looking for but I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list where it'll be easier to spot.
While you're waiting for replies you could have a look through the posts to see if anyone recently has posted about having a reversal and reply to them if you think they can help you further.
Your mom could arrange to speak to the surgeon again before the op so that she has chance to discuss her concerns.
Wishing you and your mom all the best with whatever you decide to do.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi JoshA
I’m sorry that you haven’t had any relevant replies yet after I suggested you put up a new post. I think the issue may be that it’s the reversal of the mucous fistula that members don’t necessarily have the experience of. I’ve not seen posts about a reversal for this coming up before but there are lots of posts about the reversal of an ileostomy/loop colostomy.
I have an end colostomy so it’s permanent and can never be reversed, so I don’t have the same experience to draw on.
It must be very difficult for you both, given what has happened in the past with your mum, to make a decision to go ahead with the reversal but I see my friend Artsie has been helping out on your other post with her experience of ileostomy reversal. I hope your mum and yourself can both reach a decision you are both happy with.
Sarah xx
Hi there JoshA &Sarah
We've been chatting on the other post. I didn’t see this.
Sorry
Have a good day all.
At least it’s not raining here today hope you’ve all got some spring like weather
Ann
Hi Ann
Lovely looking day outside but very cold and windy! Had a chippy tea tonight which is very rare for us but stuffed now. 
Sarah xx
Sounds perfect Sarah I’m really chuffed you’re able to eat some naughty food. You deserve it now a nice glass of wine will finish the day off a treat x
Ann
Hah! I tried a glass of wine more than a week ago and didn’t even finish it so made do with a cup of tea! But it is SO nice to be able to eat again and I’ve definitely found my appetite after what seems like weeks of eating so little.
Sarah xx
Gosh JoshA that sounds like a lot to cope with regarding the loop colostomy.
I’ve not heard anyone before say they had to push the stoma back in to attach the bag. Is the hole cut to the right size? My colostomy doesn’t protrude at all-it is flush with my skin so is obviously easier to manage, and as an end colostomy it does not go like a volcano thank goodness!
Is it possible for the mucous fistula to remain as it is? If it doesn’t cause much issue could it be left and just the more simple loop colostomy reversal be performed? I don’t have the experience to know if that is possible.
Sarah xx
