Strange Sensations After Reversal - Need Advice!

Hi.

I had my reversal 2 and a half months ago. Everything went well.

After the reversal, I don't know why, but my surgeon decided to close the whole wound and that caused infection. But everything went fine. I took meds and they opened the wound, cleaned it, and let it close itself. Of course, I had to change the dressing every day, but now it's fully closed.

Recently, I experienced something weird in the place where the stoma was. I started to feel like something liquid was going out of it, but there's nothing! I feel like it's under my skin and it's different every day from the previous days. Sometimes I feel like something is itching, and sometimes I experience a feeling like my muscles stretch. But there is no pain, no fever, and trips to the toilet are very good.

I had my stoma due to inflammation in my small bowels caused by Crohn's disease, which is something they're not sure about. I never had pain in my stomach, I never experienced blood in my stool. All I know is that I drank cold coffee while the weather was freezing, and later that day I got a fever. I went to the ER, they did a colonoscopy, and boom, "you have Crohn's since a long time ago, but there are no symptoms and we are not sure if you have it or not."

Hi jfd,

Well, what you describe is certainly weird... not sure what to say. Do you still get the sensation? If they did a scoping, it's routine to take biopsies (small pieces of bowel wall removed and checked for disease). Those take a bit of time to process, so you should ask if they have the results... which hopefully will be negative. Otherwise, it's probably just your bowels repositioning themselves... which they do as they settle into their new position. Keep us posted.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob

I think I didn't explain my thoughts very well. They did a colonoscopy before I got my stoma, which was over a year ago.

I got this problem recently after the takedown process. But before the reversal, they did another colonoscopy to check if everything is good to go with the reversal. Surprisingly, the doctor told me that there's no single evidence that I had Crohn's.

But, as I said, the sensation problem is new after the reversal.

All these sensations  do sound a bit strange. However, after any surgery there will be things happening inside that create strange sensations. the healing process is stringe in itself and when combined with things like scar tissue and nerve endings there can be all sorts of weird sensations going on. I found that some surgeons are reluctant to being open about these after effects in case it reflects badly on their procedures. the ones that are more communicative can be quite reassuring if they can give rational explanations to account for what you are 'feeling' (even if it is psychological)!  Sometimes these medics simply don't know about what we go through once they have finished their part of the procedure and this is where the stoma nurses can sometimes be very informative and supportive.   Of course, there may be someone on here who has been through the same sort of thing and can offer some insight and perhaps advice, but if that doesn't happen, then a chat with an experienced  stoma nurse might be useful.   I understand that some of the major manufacturers have such people on their staff wjho are tasked with the role of tlaking these things through with people, so this might be an avenue for support.

Best wishes

Bill

Hi Bill

I agree with all you said. My appointment with the stoma nurse is tomorrow, so I hope it's nothing that serious. Wish me luck, please.

Thank you for your helpful words.

Hi JFD, I had resection surgery 3 years ago and my stoma moved from the right to the left side. If I eat a big meal, I sometimes get a feeling in the spot where my old stoma was of movement under the skin. As for gurgling, my guts are always making noises. In fact, when my daughter drops off her dog and he sits by me, he stares at my gut like, "What the hell was that?" after it gurgles, squeaks, and makes other sounds.