Has My Cancer Returned After Stoma Reversal?

Hi all, I had a stoma reversal in August this year, and it's been really hard to get back to normal. My bowel is all over the place. I have all the symptoms: urgency, swinging between diarrhea or constipation, none of which appears to be triggered by food. Now I've got what I thought was piles, and I'm now panicking that perhaps it's the cancer returned. Does anyone else have a similar journey or thoughts on the reversal operation?

No help on the reversal part, but I hope it all turns out okay for you.

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, however, I wish you the best. I would certainly address this with my surgeon. I wouldn't want that cloud hanging around.

Hi Hev,

Sounds like you need to have a discussion with your Gastro about your condition. Get a copy of your surgical reports from your surgeons and hang onto them... you'll be glad you did in the future. You need to determine which parts of your bowel were removed, and then discuss this with your Gastro to find out what to expect with your newly modified bowels. See if they saved your ileocecal valve... or if it was removed. Whenever bowel is removed, things rarely go back to 'normal' when reconnected. You just have to figure out what your new 'normal' is. Once you know what's now missing, you can determine what those parts of your bowel used to do (and now cannot), and then adjust your diet accordingly. It seems awfully quick for your cancer to return, but that should be something they could check easily enough. Don't waste your time trying to figure it out on here... get to your Gastro ASAP and figure out what's going on!

;O)