Recovery After Rectum Removal

Had an ileostomy and am now going in to have my rectum removed. Wondering how long I will be uncomfortable after this procedure, and what to expect after it is done. Feel great right now, and wish I didn't have to do this, but rectal bleeding has been a real issue and hope this stops it......

It all depends on how well you heal. Realistically, in my opinion, you're looking at a few months.

Yipes! A few months? I would imagine the healing wouldn't come right away, but will I be uncomfortable sitting for that long? Holy moly! Thanks for responding, I appreciate it!

You're welcome. Hope everything turns out well for you.

I was lucky and had no pain down there. Before the operation, I was worried about how bad it would be, but I was lucky that my pain was not down there.

Hi Barbiedoll, I would recommend finding the softest pillow you can, but not the donut type as they tend to spread the cheeks and may cause the stitches to separate. Good luck.

Yeah, I'd say you were lucky to have no pain down there but that's great. I could barely spread my legs apart; getting out of the hospital bed was the worst. Once I was able to get out of the bed, I didn't lay back down till I was ready to go back to sleep just to avoid that part. I was fairly pain-free in the front though. It was an open surgery but a much smaller incision than my first open surgery nearly 20 years ago. Sneezing or coughing didn't feel good though, but I would hold against my incision and stoma and that helped. After a week or two, the bottom started to be a lot more tolerable and I agree about two months when it felt pretty well healed.

I went through the exact same ordeal. Emergency ileostomy surgery then years later, rectum removal surgery. I was having a lot of bleeding and phantom pains in the rectum area. It was really affecting my quality of life. Seemed to hit me a lot when sleeping. Nothing I would do would ease the pain, it had to go away on its own. The rectum recovery I think is worse than the ileostomy surgery. It was very hard to get comfortable, due to us sitting on our butts for long periods of time. How long it took me to recover is hard to remember. I think I was out of work for 2 weeks, and when I did return I was sitting on a pillow for maybe a week. It was hard to sit or lay down. I will honestly tell you in my situation it was very uncomfortable. I was healthy. The doughnuts were okay and a fluffy pillow was okay too. I think I spent a lot of time in the recliner. It is only temporary and it will be great once all healed up.