Sharing My Ileostomy Reversal Journey and Recovery

Replies
3
Views
6479
TotallySurprised
Jan 16, 2012 11:14 pm
Guess I will start from the beginning. 2 1/2 years ago I had a sudden onset of abdominal pain which got worse over 48 hours. Having no insurance coverage, I held out as long as I could before going to the ER with the abdominal pain and no B/M for over 72 hours.

8 hours after arriving in the ED, I was in surgery and 12 hours later I had a colostomy.

I will give a blow by blow in later posts but after an unsuccessful attempt at reversal last September that resulted in an ilesotomy I was completely and totally depressed.

Last Thursday my ileostomy was reversed. I was released from the hospital directly out of the ICU yesterday morning. I returned to the ED yesterday afternoon because I spiked a temp of 102. A "possible" pneumonia was detected on the Xray. I refused to be readmitted for observation, was given an antibiotic to take home and a new appt with the surgeon Wednesday to follow up.

I seem to be healing very fast, moderate incision pain and some lingering hernias that will be repaired later.

I intend to become a full member later today and then plan to blog about my total mind numbing experience.

God Speed
cee
Jan 17, 2012 2:11 am
Hi TotallySurprised,

     And aren't we all.  After one abdominal resection surgery a couple of years ago I was sent home.  I was there a week recovering when everything stopped.  I was still "connected" then.  Felt horrible and eventually started vomiting black awful stuff.  Readmitted to the hospital they found no blockage...they eventually found pneumonia in my right lung and they wrote the whole 3 week of in-patient care off to "ilio-anal blockage secondary to pneumonia".  It was pure misery.  I am sure your insurance situation sucks but don't let your self die over it.

Good luck!
iMacG5

When I found this web site, I didn't think its name had anything to do with actually meeting an ostomate but I later learned there were some folks who did meet and develop relationships. How good is that? That wasn't my intention. I definitely didn't want anyone to meet me. I felt broken and wasn't prepared to express those feelings. I thought it was a place where ostomates wrote about themselves, posed questions, shared thoughts, told jokes and, sometimes, just vented. I thought of it as a community of folks with similar interests and various degrees of experience. Mostly I found some of the most caring, selfless, wise and understanding people I ever imagined. I was so impressed with some of the writings; not because of their literary value but the way in which they addressed such a very complex environment. I read hundreds of exchanges and admired the way folks cared for each other. I became hopeful with my own situation and looked forward to the next day's offerings. Certainly some contributors stood out with their experience or particular skills in addressing some things but it seemed like a total effort with synergistic results. I felt blessed to have found this site. I still do.
Mike

TotallySurprised
Jan 17, 2012 2:29 am
I had 2 bowel movements in the hospital and then nothing. Came home yesterday morning and nothing all day. Finally about 8 this morning all was well again. I pray for continued healing!
hometown
Jan 24, 2012 4:30 am
Hi ,  just reading your posts, and my prayers are with you.  Things like this seem to happen often and no answers to make us feel better.  I will pray for a full recovery and no more problems    Joyce