Stoma Revision Gone Wrong - Need Advice

 Hello everybody Iam Mike and I hope all of you are doing well. I have a few questions and if anyone can find the time to respond I would be very appreciative. I had a surgery which was an utter debacle. I have a new surgeon since my regular surgeon relocated to California and he wasn't compassionate and he messed me up considerably. I had a lump developing adjacent to my stoma that looked and felt like a hernia although numerous ct scans did not detect on. I was a bit befuddled because the discomfort was intolerable. And it was gradually getting worse. To make a long story short I told my new incompetent surgeon and we both agreed to cut me open, investigate the lump and the pain and if he found a hernia he would reverse my ostomy and if he didn't find one, he would just close me back up. Well he without my knowledge or consent decided to operate on my stoma and try to make it wider. The problem is my stoma was perfectly fine, it was the lump I was worried about. After the botched surgery my problems rapidly got worse. My colon became inflamed to the point it caused a blockage and landed me in the hospital. Now I can pass any gas, or eat because I would get sick. They currently have me on TPN receiving nutrients through a pick line. The question is have anyone ever heard of a surgery where they try to widen the circumference of the stoma? And also what seems to be my problem? Why isn't my stoma working at all after the surgery. Please I really could use some advice.

Hello Kyan4. Sorry to hear that you have had these sorts of problems as they can be very frustating and worrying. One of the problems about corresponding on the web is that with your kind of problem it is often only be going inside and having a look , that the surgeon can tell what is causing the problem and subsequently, what needs to be done about it. I found that one of the ways I cope with this sort of problem is to objectify it by viewing it as a plumbing problem. If there is a 'blockage', then what would a plumber do to unblock it? I was surprised when my stoma nurse showed me how to digitally release a faecal blockage, which is the equivalent of a plumber 'rodding' it. I can understand the logic of widening a stoma if the one we have is too small to let the waste through. I have this problem at present, caused by a hernia. I have been contemplating what to do about it, without involving medics first, as I feel that they are too eager to 'practice' their surgical skills on whatever is presented to them. Whereas my logic tells me that I don't want my 'plumber' to do major work, when a more simple solution might suffice. 

I will be very interested in how your situation resolves itself.

Best wishes

Bill

Yes, I just had one on the 17th of February.  I had emergency surgery on July 12th 2017 when my lower bowel just up and died.  They couldn't find a cause at all but it was all dead.   They did ileostomy surgery and I woke up with "Maxine" on my side.  Well, as I healed , about the second month in, anything I ate or drank caused severe pain.  It seemed that I was back and forth to the hospital and admitted several times.  Finally, on my last visit to the ER on 16 Feb, the doctor saw an anomaly on the CAT scan and admitted me for emergency surgery again.  When I finally woke up and saw the doctor two days later (I was operated on a Saturday) he said I had the worst stricture and adhesions that he had ever seen.  He said the stricture was almost pin hole size!   He also said he enlarged the stoma area and the area behind it as it was very narrow.  I noticed right away that things were working much better.  He said it will take some time for the intestines to go back to their normal size after being so swollen from all the back up material.   Where I had a slightly protruding stoma the first time, I now have one that is flush and slightly inward.  The doctor told me if I hadn't of come in for help that it would have caused my intestine to burst so I am glad I insisted they look at them again.  So far, so good.  I still have my staples in so I still have pain where they are and there is some raw areas around the stoma that are painful and healing very slowly that my stoma nurse attributes to the stitches and there is not a great deal they can do with those right now.  However, having mine enlarged has helped.  I hope the stoma will shrink down a little as right now it is 1 1/2 inches and that is as far as I can cut my skin barrier but if I don't make it big enough it irritates the raw areas.  Good luck to you!