Frequent Bathroom Visits After Reversal Surgery

I had a reversal in June. I'm 7 times a day, and December 11th will be 6 months. Has anyone had a similar experience? It's not nice thinking about your bowels constantly. Hello everyone, lol.

Nothing to be alarmed about, Nick. It's quite normal from what I have read about other reversals. It takes time. It's an adjustment. Patience. Things will return to something close to normal.

You aren't in any pain, correct?

Yeah, that's the hope. Fingers crossed, hey.

Was it a reversal of an ileostomy? If so, how much colon do you have? If you don't have a colon or don't have the sigmoid, I would think seven times a day is about right. If you have your full colon, then what Warrior said. :-)

Full disclosure: I have an ileostomy with no colon, and reversal is something I would rather not deal with.

Daniel

Exactly why I refused reversal. My entire sigmoid colon was removed. I'd rather deal with a bag than hunt down toilets all day. No sigmoid, no stool storage.

My Ostomy Journey: Jearlean | Hollister

Oh, bless you, there is still hope it'll sort out given time, so here's to hoping, hey?

No, a colostomy. I'm not sure if I lost my colon or not. I was in a coma 2 years ago after a car crash, so I woke up with the bag. In June, I had the reversal. The surgeon said that in 18 months, where I'm at is where I am at, but I should get better in that period, so hopefully.

How long have you had yours, if you don't mind me asking?

I just realized: Today, November 19, is my stomaversary. November 19, 2022, I had been hospitalized for a month. I lost 66 pounds; antibiotics were ineffective against my sepsis, peritonitis, and C. diff infections. Soon, the infections would become antibiotic-resistant, and I would be toast. Doctors couldn't find what was wrong. I was told I had to have exploratory surgery right away. I woke up with a colostomy.

That was 3 years ago. I've been healthy and happy ever since.

Saved your life then.

Yes. I was malnourished and continued to lose weight. I went from a size 36 waist to a 29. Three years later, I'm at 31. My wife still gets mad when I say how happy I am to be skinny, courtesy of the "hospital diet."

Yeah, I'm definitely staying thin at the moment, although 32-34 waist, probably more 32 at the moment. I initially lost 3 stone in 6 weeks at the hospital, but for the reversal, only a couple of pounds. Then, when I started eating, I weirdly was dropping weight at first. To be fair, I'm eating what I want within reason.

Hi Nick, welcome to the site. So, you had a colostomy, but now it's reversed, and you go 7-10 times a day. Do you take any meds to slow it down?

Yeah, Imodium now most days, although I try to go without as much as I can.

And thanks for the welcome.