Proctectomy and Fertility: Any Success Stories?

Hi there, I am a 24-year-old girl. I have had various problems with infection, etc., coming from my rectal stump, and my doctor is suggesting I have a proctectomy. However, he has said that this could have the unfortunate side effect of making me infertile, which would really be a huge deal for me.

Has anyone else had a proctectomy with any success?

Thanks!

Hey Dawsy, I have had the stump removed, but as a Crohn's person, it got an infection after only 3 days. Saying that, the rectum didn't heal like it would with other conditions. Mine leaked like a tap for over 6 months. Depending on your situation, I guess it's up to you. And at your age, wanting babies, it's a hard decision to make. I had my rectum out at 41, and being sick from the time of 23, I didn't get that chance to have children. And never would I want to be pregnant, especially with medications. Most of my medicines, I couldn't have a baby anyway. And when I had those months of not having flare-ups, I was getting my life back. Why does your GP want you to have the rectal stump taken out? If I could turn back time, I wouldn't have had mine done. Only as 9 operations have left incredible agony with adhesions. And I wasn't informed that my illness things would never heal, even so a bit of mucus now and then and bleeding as the little hole ain't closed up properly. So I'm thinking he's saying get rid of it for some reason...???

Well, I hope you get the right surgery for you as we are all different. Good luck to you. :)

I had a complete colectomy with an ileostomy and Hartman's pouch (rectal stump) in 2010. My rectum was pretty diseased though from Crohn's. By 2012, I had formed a rectovaginal fistula which meant that all the mucus from my rectum was coming out of my vagina! Unfortunately, none of the medications my specialist gave me to try and heal it worked, but I had much bigger issues to deal with at the time, so I had to live with it by basically wearing maxi pads. I had to have my esophagus removed that year and had to wait a year to have it reconstructed. It wasn't until this past February when I had a small bowel hernia just below my ileostomy that needed repairing, that the opportunity to remove the rectum made sense. So I had it removed in March, and I'm happy to report that I had absolutely no problems with it. After dealing with it for 2 years, it was great to be rid of it. The only issue was that the rectal scar didn't heal well, but it did eventually close up. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I had a proctocolectomy about 5 years ago and it completely changed my life for the better. I'm an older man, so I don't know about pregnancy, but my love life is also completely improved, and while the surgery and recovery was difficult, the results are very much worth it.

Hi,

My name is Marsha, and when I had my surgery (ileostomy) back when I was 15 (50 years ago), they left the rectal stump. I adapted well to the ileostomy, but that stump refused to heal. My parents and the doctor resisted my requests to have it removed, so it took me 4 years to convince them. I was 19 at the time, and although the incision was slow to heal, it finally did. However, I had some complications... cut nerves to the bladder, and I lost sensation of having to "pee". But my bladder works... I just need to time myself.

I married at 20 and had no problem getting pregnant. My deliveries were difficult, however. The gyn dr. wanted to avoid a c-section because my belly was so cut up, scarred from the surgeries, drain and hernia scars... and of course, the ostomy is there on the right.

The vaginal births were difficult for both me and each of my two babies... as they were quite large, over 8 1/2 pounds each. There's always a risk, but I'm thankful for my very special doctors as they helped me through that time... not knowing how it was going to turn out.

Sadly, my two beautiful little boys inherited their father's and my conditions. One has UC, and the other has Crohn's. Neither has required surgery, but both have been on strong medications for years. They are both in their 40s now and are raising children of their own. So far... the grandkids are doing well... but one family "went vegan" and is on an autoimmune/healthy eating diet. The other family is now restricting milk products since it's a known inflammatory agent to those with bowel disorders.

I hope this helps to answer some questions..

Hi there.

I've had problems on and off with this issue over the years and have tried various natural methods. For infections, local suppositories of natural antibiotics such as tea tree oil (or perhaps something gentler initially) would work. For inflammation, the best solution I have found is healing enemas. Slippery elm is great to soothe, as is marshmallow root powder. Mixing this kind of mixture with spring water or aloe vera (George's aloe vera is pretty essential as it has all the irritating components removed) works well. When I've been really bad, I've also used flax oil and olive oil in various ratios, which works very well. Two lessons I've learned from this are good hygiene with the enemas when cleaning/drying, plus making sure you use good quality herbs/oils.

The other big (perhaps crucial) issue to consider is whether you might be suffering from diversion colitis. If you don't know, this is colitis that's caused by having a stoma. The diversion of fecal flow deprives the bowel tissue of short-chain fatty acids, which can sometimes cause it to become inflamed. A biopsy can tell if you have this. If it's a loop ileostomy rather than an end ileostomy, this is far less likely to occur as some feces gets through and nourishes the tissue. When I had an end ileostomy, I suffered with suspected diversion colitis and my surgeon prescribed fatty acid enemas which I'm not sure did any good to be honest, but they might be worth asking about. When I had a reversal, the problems eventually resolved though, so maybe diversion colitis played a part after all. Fatty acid enemas are expensive, or at least they were when I took them, so if any doctors are reluctant to prescribe, bear that in mind! I now have a loop ileostomy and am also hoping to avoid proctectomy, and am doing best with George's aloe vera and slippery elm enemas for soothing the inflammation.

The very best of luck!

Patrick