I met with my surgeon yesterday. It has been 4 weeks since my last radiation, so we met to discuss the timing of my take down (surprise!! ) I didn't realize that there was a period of time before surgery would be come more difficult, so this was a big surprise for me. Anyway, my surgeon's recommendation, which I am taking, is to do the take down but also do a diverting loop ileostomy until the anastomosis heals, to prevent leaks. Basically he is treating my surgery as if I have rectal cancer. He reiterated that my situation is different, so he doesn't have a real protocol to follow. (I kind of felt like yelling bingo when he said that, I am now 4/4 of docs who have talked about winging it with me.)
I know for you rectal cancer folks this is pretty much how it goes. Does anyone have any experience with going from end to loop? Is there much of a difference in care, etc? We are planning for the week of 7/20, which gives me time to get some kind of scan and a contrast enema