Reversing an illeostomy early

[DrlizH]

Hi folks. I was diagnosed in August, and following chemo/radiation in the fall, had surgery in december. Chemo/rad took care of lymph nodes and most of the tumor. Clean margins. All looks good. Problem is the illeostomy - it's a mess. I restarted chemo recently and I'm fine with it, but The illeostomy is awful. My skin is a wreck , I can't find a system that stays on more than 24 hours (if that), I'm developing an allergy to the adhesives, you name it. Its only been 3 months and I have another 5 months of chemo - then will have to wait another few weeks before reversal. So, can this be reversed while doing chemo? I'm probably being premature but I just changed my bag for the 5th time in 48 hours. Thoughts?

[Lydia666]

I know exactly what you mean- i hate mine too for similar reasons. I heard you can interrupt chemo and have the reversal but my surgeon did not want to do it until i am done with chemo. You need to check with your docs. There are people on here who got it reversed 3 weeks later!

[ALW]

I had mine reversed exactly one month after my surgery. Mine was a mess too. We couldn't stop the leaks no matter what we tried, it was eating away at my skin, and the pain was terrible. The more it leaked, the worse it got. The Ostomy nurse ran out of ideas as she had tried so many different systems, each one staying on for only a few hours. My surgeon knew there was no way I could make it through chemo like that. They did my reversal and placed a wound vac in order to speed up the healing. Pretty much the day the wound vac came off, I started chemo. I ended up with about a month delay in starting the chemo.

[jackn]

I know exactly how it feels, I had tears in my eyes when mine kept leaking. Unfortunately we just have to deal with it and the surgeon cannot expedite the reversal until the hookup has healed because if they do it might result in a leak and cause further problems once it is all closed up. I wish you all the best and remember this is just a phase which will pass away and then you will be thankful for the good results. I am glad that things are going great for you otherwise. My blessings with you.

[BrownBagger]

I got reversed at 10 weeks, before chemo, and it worked out well. Getting reversed while on chemo might not be much fun.

[justin case]

I got along with my illio exactly close enough to death. My surgeon reversed me in 3 weeks!
Michael