Seeking Advice on Transitioning from Colostomy to Ileostomy: Need Tips and Insights

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This topic provides advice and insights on transitioning from a colostomy to an ileostomy, offering tips and experiences from others who have gone through a similar process.
kbd

Honestabe,

Did you have a temporary ileostomy and then get your colostomy?

Glad to hear you are doing well! I will get my location for the stoma marked next week, then surgery on May 1st for ileostomy.

Best wishes.

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Hermit

Hi there KBD. Diagnosed 3 years ago, rectal cancer with tumor. Same old procedure. Surgery, chemo etc. Had temp ileostomy for 8 months. No problems whatsoever. Wanted to keep it. Family, friends and surgeon said I should go back to normal. Mistake. Reconnection failed. Scar tissue created complete blockage where tumor was removed. 3 weeks with complete blockage. Had PEs etc. would bore you. Anyway, ileostomy hernia prolapsed. Blockage was still in colon and could not do a colonoscopy, so kill 2 birds with one stone. Did away with 6" stoma and removed blockage and went to permanent colostomy. Confusing! Sorry? My new looks good. With mesh, maybe it won't hernia. Tks.

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kbd

Sorry to hear you went through all that, but it sounds like you are moving into a more stable situation with it now.

Surgeon asked me 6 years ago if I would want my surgery reversed in the future and I told him "no". I knew what Crohn's had done to me and I didn't want to go through it again. Good call as 6 years later my entire colon is being removed because of Crohn's.

Hermit

Evidently you don't have cancer. That's good. What an experience!

kbd

Yes, I was spared that. Sorry you have had to deal with it.

 
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Hermit

I have no intention of it coming back. Take numerous supplements, stopped using smokeless tobacco, changed my diet, drink Essiac tea, walk, the other diet consisting of cottage cheese, flaxseed oil, avocado everyday. Take a lot of curcumin and drink reverse osmosis water with real organic lemon all day. D3 etc!

kbd

Good stuff. D3 is a big one, I think. I notice a difference using it for the past year.

Hermit

Go to PubMed and research curcumin. Thousands of tests done on it! Doctors use this site.

GraphX12

Hi honestable,

What was your trick for kicking the habit?

I have used smokeless tobacco for 40 years. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) some 25 years ago and a few years thereafter went to the Mayo Clinic for consultation. The doctor there saw my history and asked if I had tried to quit tobacco recently. (I hadn't) He told me that their research showed a high rate of UC in people who have quit smoking and a low rate in people who continue to smoke. At that time, their studies couldn't clarify what the link was with tobacco/nicotine and lower rates of UC.

He also told me that as a doctor he ethically can't tell me not to quit, but off the record he would advise not to.

Hermit

What I am about to tell you, I told two nurses today at the hospital before being discharged. In 2014, I was diagnosed with rectal cancer. I couldn't even spell it? What a shock. Anyway, my first surgeon read on my charts that I used Copenhagen for 50 years. He continued to chew me out and said today was my last time. I told him, this is harder to get off than heroin. On the way home, I thought I could trick my brain. Use a regular can and put in either organic coconut or almond flour. Of course, it takes some willpower, but it works. The first thing in the morning and the last thing before bed! I have not used the real thing in 3 years! Good luck! Still in remission.

GraphX12

May have to look into this. No patch? No gum? ...Wow! Congratulations! (I agree with your heroin analogy).

I am week 3 post-op following hernia surgery #2. Hoping this one will hold.

My best to you, honestable!

kbd

Note: I have updated the first post in this thread to share my experience after 5 weeks with the ileostomy in case anyone is interested in my experience so far with the ileostomy compared to the colostomy.

freedancer

Yep, food goes through you faster for sure. There might be things you won't be able to eat but through experimentation, you will learn. Some people lose weight and some gain. I lost a lot in my legs and bottom but my tummy didn't lose a lot, mostly because it had the crap kicked out of it with two cesarean sections, a hysterectomy, and then two emergency bowel surgeries, the initial trauma surgery in June 2017 and the redo because of a stricture in February 2018. So poor tummy has some pretty significant scars! You will have to empty more and I think the gas issue is less than the other but foods can give you gas. You just learn to burp the bag and if you want to torture the grandkids....ha! ha!...do it when they aren't looking and blame it on the dog if you have one. Anyway, you will get used to it. Good luck to you! Pamela

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