ostomy_reversal discussions

Hello everyone: Tomorrow will mark one week since my ileostomy reversal. The week has been really difficult. Constant diarrhea, a butt on fire from all the liquid stool, and some pain where the stoma used to be. Just when I get cleaned up from a stool explosion and apply ointment to my skin, I have another blast of poop and have to start the whole process again. We're talking multiple times pe ...

Hi everyone,
I don't really post, just read a lot. I wanted to thank everyone for all the great advice. I'm having my reversal surgery on Friday, July 7th and I have to say I'm quite nervous. I shouldn't be, this will be my 6th surgery overall and 3rd in the past 12 months. It all started on July 6th, 2022, with perforated diverticulitis and I ended up with a colostomy. I was supposed to have ...

Hope someone can help. Had a colostomy last May. Went in for reversal operation Oct. 5th. OP did not go well and required two emergency operations during the 6 weeks I was hospitalized. Last op was 7 weeks ago. I suffer from daily diarrhea and actually lose control about every other day. Dr. ordered stool tests for C. diff which I have had and know this is not C. diff. What is going on?
Thanks/Don

I'm just curious. Are there people like me that have the option to get a reversal from a colostomy but are just plain on the fence with pros, cons, ups and downs, and don't do anything? At the rate I'm going, I just wonder if it's all worth it. Wow, I'm 20 months in already. May I have your thoughts?
Also, what is the difference between a colostomy and an ileostomy?

I have had an ileostomy for 18 years. I was diagnosed with UC and was incredibly ill for years hence the bag... I was told I could consider the J pouch op but after years of ill health and then feeling great finally I decided to forgo more surgery and just live with the bag.
Then last week, I spoke to a specialist about a reversal. He told me he could join me up without the J pouch and reckon ...

Hi everyone-
Well, it's one month until my reversal.....I'm scheduled for Jan. 18, 2012.
Of course, I intend to go through with it, but I must admit that my mind vacillates between taking the "known" over the "unknown" as the countdown to reversal approaches. I've read everything I can get my hands on about reversal; listened intently to the folks here who have had a reversal and the pros and ...

Just left the hospital after my reversal on the 9th. Doesn't hurt as much but have bruise around my stoma area but all in all a success. Went to the bathroom the 3rd day after surgery and had about 8 BM. Then 5 BM and today just had 1 so far. Don't know what to expect, haven't passed gas yet which I heard people usually do after surgery. Guess I'll see how it goes. Thanks to all that have repl ...

Went to my surgeon's office and given the green light to go back to work on 11/4/2019. That feels good, but now my reversal on 11/19/2019. Not sure what to expect. If a few can give me advice on what is in store for me, it would be nice to hear. My surgery was done on 10/24/2019 and now the reversal. Kind of scared but happy at the same time. During my surgery, I will keep people updated on ho ...

Yesterday, my surgeon did a sigmoidoscopy to check things out. The result was that I have 15 cm of rectum left and things look good in there. He thinks I am a good candidate for a reversal and has scheduled such for the 10th of October, less than 10 months since my colectomy. And he is confident it can be done laparoscopically. This is all the best news I have heard this year, although I will ...

I am scheduled for my reversal on 12/4. All my pre-admin stuff is completed and my GI signed off on the clearance letter this morning. I am super excited and looking forward to not having a bag. I just hope all goes well and heals well so I don't wake up with a temp bag which will lead to yet another surgery.
I have learned a lot from this website and will continue to be on here even after sur ...

The night of August 16th was probably the most painful night of my life. Starting at 5pm and finally at 4am on the 17th, I let my wife call 911. I was brought to the hospital and diagnosed as having a perforated colon from diverticulitis. If I wasn't on so much morphine, I probably would have flipped out. Finally, that afternoon they found air floating around my chest area and decided I had to ...

I am having my reversal surgery in a little over a week on June 24th and I am really nervous since I had trouble with the first surgery! It was actually two emergency surgeries.. resulting in the colostomy bag! But it saved my life so I can't be too fussy about it.. The first surgeries I was in the hospital 9 days!! I am trying to find out about an average hospital stay for a reversal! I would ...

I am a 59-year-old female who has gone to hell and back with Crohn's disease. Spending most of 2015 and 2016 in the hospital, 4 colon resections later, I have a colostomy that I have had for 3 years. My colorectal surgeons refuse to reverse me, saying I would go right back to being as sick as I was. I also work as an R.N. in a doctor's office and he is opposed as well. My family is against it ...

I've had a colostomy since November after emergency surgery on a bowel perforation.
I hope to have my colostomy reversal in May/June, and my doctor says I will require a temporary ileostomy (minimum 2 weeks) as part of the reversal.
Do any of you have experience with this type of reversal? I've tried to find information online but my searches are turning up anything. Maybe the procedure has a ...

Well everyone, I'm home recuperating from my fourth surgery in six months and had my ileostomy reversed. I was really nervous about this surgery because every time before that I went in to surgery, I came out disappointed. My first surgery in September was to remove the damaged colon done laparoscopically without a colostomy. I came home after three days and on the fifth day, I ended up back i ...