The Colon Club

My hubby is having his reversal on the 25th. My concern is the surgeon said on Friday that it will be a challenge and that his bowels will never be the same. The surgeon also said he would not be able to be away from the restroom after meals. For months. He also said he will be sending a stoma wound care nurse to the house to follow- up on his care at home. He said if you don't keep up on care of ass it will be like crapping razor blades for awhile his words. All my hubby wants is to eat an steak again. Doctor said that was out for a couple of months at least, since he has problems with his ilestomy he hasn't't has one in 8 months. The doctor said since he had to take part of his rectum it will be more of a challenge and he expects a 3 day hospital stay from what I have read I thought it would be longer. My hubby and I laugh when we left because in the beginning of this journey the surgeon made it out that he would have a ilestomy and then a reversal no problem. I guess he didn't want to scared upfront not like we had a choice. I have brought pads, wipes, non scented soap, tucks and made made soups, and some other bland foods to start him out on. Anything I need that I haven't thought of?

Make sure you have really soft TP - it makes a big difference. Calmoseptine is great for healing, but if he's having a real frequency period, Vaseline wipes off easier and cleaner (Calmoseptine is really thick). I didn't want to mess with non flush able wipes so I just got the TP wet with water - that helped.

Everything the surgeon said sounds right. The first few weeks are always the hardest - for most people the first big improvement is around the 3 week mark. From there everyone is really different. There are folks here, even those who have no rectum, who manage pretty well. And there are those who don't. All he can do is give it a try, be patient and hope for the best. I'd hold off on that steak for awhile though.

Good luck to your husband. Just curious about the stoma nurse after the surgery. Does your surgeon leave the wound open to heal from the inside out. Everyone is different so hopefully his will go well. I had all my rectum removed leaving just enough to reconnect the sphincter muscle. My surgeon did a straight connect and not a J-pouch. My surgeon told me two to three days in the hospital after reversal and I ended up staying the three. My surgeon does things a little different so I am not sure what your husband's surgeon will advise but listen to him because he knows your hisband's situation best. My reversal was done in October 2011 and I am fortunate to have a successful reversal. I will say if I eat a huge meal I always have to go to the bathroom within the hour. I went back to work a week after reversal surgery. I am pretty regular now but can't drink soda or eat a greasy meal. Steak is actually a good food for me because it slows my digestion. So if I am eating out a steak is a good choice. Best of luck.

Coppercent our surgeon saids it will heal best from the inside out he will also be treating stoma hernia so this may be the reason for a stoma nurse during recovery.

First - when looking at stuff on this site - always remember that you will be hearing from an extremely small segment of the population who have colorectal cancer and an even smaller number of people who have ileostomy reversals.

I think your surgeon is being very honest with you. I was out of work for nearly 8 weeks after my reversal and it took almost all of that time to normalize and maintain control. My surgeon tells me that I had a very good outcome. Lots of people have lots of problems. To this day, fiber will put me in the bathroom - we are talking about a bit of cole slaw or two glasses of V8. After dinner, I really do not know what is going to happen or how quickly.

But to keep everything in context, I said to my surgeon that my colon did not work like it used to - he said "but it is working"!!

For me it was a long process and there were accidents. I slept on mattress pads for a long time and when I traveled I brought them with me. I still eat very light at lunch. I look at it as just a growing process.

I suppose each case is different but I was in the hospital for 6 days after my ileo reversal. The doctors typically won't release you until your bowels start moving on their own again. For me, I went 3 days with nothing, then on the 4th day the floodgates opened. Diarrhea the likes of which I've never had before. Two days of that and then they released me. The first few days at home were rough, but things started improving slowly.

My surgeon didn't stitch the stoma site closed. He left it open, to heal from the inside out. It wasn't very pretty to look at, but surprisingly wasn't painful at all. After about 6 weeks, the wound was fully healed.

As for supplies, I just want to second what others have responded. Definitely bring some soft 2 ply toilet paper - most hospitals use the cheap, scratchy 1 ply stuff. A tube of Calmosptine is a must have. I also brought some Depends to the hospital which came quite in handy.

The surgeon will most likely recommend a low residue diet for 6 weeks. After that my surgeon told me I could eat whatever I wanted - including steaks. While it is true that your system will never be the same as before surgery, we all adjust to the "new normal." For the first few weeks, I spent quite a lot of time in the bathroom, mostly late at night, but then things slowly started improving. I still have an occasional bad day, but overall it's not so bad. Good luck!

I had my reversal in January. I had complications including a leak and a fistula that landed me in the hospital, having another surgery, and on TPN for a week.

That being said, here I am in April, fairly close to "normal"
I have clustering...in the evenings and sometimes morning. Where I'm emptying out every 10 minutes over a couple hours. The toosh gets a little burny after that!

I was away last weekend renting a house in the woods, and the owners had put in a heated toilet seat and warm water bidet. AMAZING!!!!!! If I could get insurance to pay for one I would get one. If you are looking at a rougher, longer recovery a bidet may be a good investment!!!

llupp wrote:My hubby is having his reversal on the 25th. My concern is the surgeon said on Friday that it will be a challenge and that his bowels will never be the same ... Anything I need that I haven't thought of?

Hi llupp -

It looks like you have done a very good job of preparing for your husband's reversal, and you have now received some good advice from other rectal-surgery/pelvic-radiation patients. We'll be thinking about you on the 25th!

You may want to have a look at some of the hospital leaflets on stoma reversal to see if there is anything you might have forgotten:

Reversal of your Ileostomy or Colostomy

Regaining Bowel Control

Stoma Reversal

Returning Home After Surgery


Also, you may want to have a look at some of the reversal logs / diaries / mini-blogs that have been created here on Colon Club:

Takedown Countdown! - BrownBagger

Takedown Info - SurroundedByLove

Rectal-What's is "normal" like after my ostomy is reversed? - katykards1

Reversal Log: Experience,Problems, Q & A's - Badass Rusuja

Reversal on 11 20 2013 lost 13 inches of colon including entire rectum. Worst pain ever for over 3 months doing ok now.

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