Experiences with robotic surgery for rectal cancer?

Thanks, Bill.

I will let you know. Thanks for the uplifting words. I need a lot of prayers.

Hello Jabra. I am not renowned for my prayers, but you will definitely be in my thoughts and I look forward to hearing about a successful outcome.

best wishes Bill 

I had the same surgery 4 years ago! You should be fine! I love my colostomy! Walk as soon as possible! Will be waiting on your successful surgery! Steve

Thanks, Steve, for your encouraging words.

My surgery in November 2015 was half and half - the creation of the ostomy itself was done by laparoscopy (with no problems), but everything else was done the old-fashioned way. I have little to add to what has already been said, but my recovery took a LOOOONGG time because of radiation injury. My rectal incision refused to close, so sitting was impossible for a long time, and even now I need a special cushion (called a TUSH CUSH) in order to sit with minimal pain. This is unlikely to happen to you - I don't want to scare you - I was unusual!! Having said that, though, if there are problems with your wound closing, and you have had radiation (you don't say if this surgery is due to cancer) your doctor needs to refer you to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. My wound remained open for 2 1/2 years - then I finally was referred to HBOT, and my wound became pink and healthy-looking, and finally closed. Again, I don't want to scare you - most people heal much more quickly than I did, and you probably will too. I just wish someone had told me about HBOT long before I eventually found out about it. My healing wound has been so much faster. So I am just giving you the information in case you need it. Hope you don't! Good luck with your surgery - sounds like your medical team knows what they are doing. You are in good hands.

Hi Padfoot

Thanks for your valuable tip. I had radiation and chemo for 27 days. So hopefully your tip of getting HBOT will come in handy if I'll have a wound healing problem. I'm praying hard that I won't. You are the second ostomate to have this experience.

I'll keep you updated. Need a lot of prayers.

Jabra,

I am sure you have had your surgery and are on your way to recovery! Hope everything is going well for you! Hopefully you have gotten lots of samples from the ostomy companies! Once your ostomy starts producing output again, the challenge is to find what works well for you!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Take care,

Puppyluv

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since my surgery. So far, my wound is healing nicely with minimal drainage. There's still pain when I sit for a long time. My stoma is still about 1 1/4 inches in diameter, but they said it will shrink in a few weeks. They told me to get used to a one-piece pouch first so I can practice cleaning the skin around the stoma. So far, I'm getting used to these. Thanks for checking with me.