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Barbara, thanks for the update on how you're reversal has gone. I'm so sorry to hear that there have been issues after. I feel like it just takes a lot longer than one would think after a reversal, and hopefully your body continues to heal and become more regulated. I'm nearing my one year anniversary of my reversal, and I am still so relieved when I do go to the bathroom because I think of how hard it was to manage the ostomy - the same issues that you mentioned. Life is definitely a lot better and more predictable this far out from the reversal, so I genuinely hope that things continue to improve for you too. Thanks so much for the well wishes with school. :)

How are you doing now?

@@travissmith3880 I’ve been pretty much fully recovered for about a year now. The first couple of months my bowel woke up but forgot how to behave like a good little organ, and I was frankly running into the restroom 10-15 times a day for a while. Even these days I still use a significant dose of immodium daily to keep things under full control, but overall I feel better (and have for at least nine months) that I had in years. I absolutely hated living with an Ostomy, but in retrospect giving the bowel time to rest was obviously the right decision, and it has worked out very well so far. At the back of my mind I have this voice warning me though that eventually I will need another resection, and when I do, there’s probably more risk than before that I’ll end up with yet another ostomy.

I hope you are doing well now. 🙏🏾

@@Afrinaturality doing well 😊

Hi Jim, I meant to respond to your comment sooner. You had such helpful information to share, so thank you for that! I was a little shocked to hear about how you're wound looked when you got home honestly. During my research of what the surgery could look like, I had found that there was a fair amount of variety about the surgical approaches to the wound closure and what the wound could look like, but having it open like that would have made me uncomfortable for sure. I hope you are doing well, and hopefully no more further issues! We are on a similar time frame for healing it sounds like since our reversal surgeries were only a couple weeks apart, so I imagine that you too are becoming more regular with frequency/urgency/output. There really isn't a comparison to how it's been the last few months compared to the unpredictability of the first few weeks and month(s).

I think each person varies and how much "heat" or spice the food has makes a difference. Without looking into any specific data on this, I would imagine it would take several months as our bowels are re-learning how to work again. I would bet that working on becoming more consistent with more solid stools should be the first goal, then reintroducing spicy foods slowly and starting more mild and working your way up to your usual levels. But this would be a good question to ask your doctor the next time you see them too, just to make sure. :) For me, I'm still not quite used to medium spiced foods, but I can do mild at this point.

Wow, I can't imagine how difficult that must have been. I was only hours away from my colon perforating (breaking open) myself. It can go downhill fast from that point, so that's amazing you pulled through. How odd about needing to re-do the stoma due to not enough blood supply the first time. What a horrible experience. The PTSD is so real. I know it gets easier with time, but there are so many things that remind me of what I went through. I'm glad to hear you're moving in the right direction after everything you went through... we'll get through this together

your comment had me in tears. I'm so very sorry to hear about what you've gone through. There is definitely a mental toll around the ostomy, really with all aspects of it. The grief I feel is more ambiguous about what I went through, but I can only imagine the mental toll it took to go through all of that on top of losing your family. My bowel obstruction was a complication after an emergent c-section where I almost died and my baby almost didn't make it as well. I already felt like an emotional mess after, but I don't know how I would have gotten through it if my baby didn't make it. ...I'm just so sorry to hear about what you went through, my heart goes out to you. sending so much love. also re: the diarrhea - I have bouts where I have this too for days on end. I have been taking immodium in the mornings when I am not at home just so I don't run into any issues. Not sure if you're doing the same already, but it's been a life saver. xxxx

@@jessicastressica thank you so much . I so happy you and your family made it . I have been taking a probiotic and Imodium in the morning also another one in the afternoon.

I am so hopeful that you'll be scheduled soon! Large bowel obstructions aren't as common or understood, so it is certainly a little more unique of a process. I know I learned to take it day by day after having the ileostomy. Best of luck and healing in your recovery ❤

Hi! I had about 7 inches resected total. 2 inches of my colon (basically my entire cecum) and 5 inches of my small intestine (terminal ileum). I was lucky to go into emergency surgery when I did, otherwise I may have lost more. Thanks for watching the video, hope it was helpful in some way!

Wow! That would have been much more ideal to be sedated. Their explanation when I asked if sedation was an option was that it typically is only 15 min (though mine took an hour) so they would rather keep you awake. I didn’t have to prep, so maybe that’s the trade off. I did have a loop ileostomy! Interesting to see the different approach for the imaging.

I'm scheduled in a week for my colonoscopy. I'm a little concerned because I've developed a peristomal hernia. My surgeon has assured me that those are more common than not and will be repaired at the time of my reversal. I was also concerned about not being sedated for my colonoscopy after learning it would be done by going through my stoma. My doctor has assured me that I would be out! Thankful for that! I'm sorry you had to endure the pain having yours done. That seems a bit drastic on your doctor's part especially since the procedure was lengthy. I realize this video was done one year ago but wanted to join the conversation to learn more. I've had a colostomy for 5 mos now and scheduled for a reversal May 15 2024. Surgery was because of a blockage due to my diverticulitis. I'm nervous but hopeful I can be put back together without any issues. Hope you have healed well and enjoying life and your precious baby boy! God Bless❤

​@@suzanneanderson3475 I hope everything went well for you in May Suzanne. I had an illeostomy in May and the reversal is scheduled for July, all well thankfully.

Hi Sean! I only watched a few videos in preparation for my reversal, so I must have missed the ones where it didn't go well! At first, I definitely had to go several times a day, but it really leveled off. Looking back at my log, by about 3 weeks after, I was only going 1-3 times per day and even had days where I didn't have to go. I'm now... just a few days over 4 months post reversal, and I am going usually once per day (though if I eat something spicy or something that upsets my stomach, I'll go several times). It also only took me a couple weeks for it to go from loose and watery to more solid and formed. Everyone heals differently and may have different timelines (especially for those who had their ostomy longer, if I had to guess, as the colon is likely more atrophied), but the reversal was worth it for me. I hope your ileostomy reversal goes well when the time comes and that you have a positive recovery after.

@@jessicastressica thank you, hope alls well in the future for you!

I'm 20 days post op and the only thing went wrong was I got a hematoma the size of a qtip and 2inches deep. I've been using the bathroom twice a day normally. I had spicy food last week it did burn the bum hole like normal. So yes I'm glad I didn't have the runs.

My appointment to discuss my ileostomy reversal is in 10 days, and I’m ridiculously anxious. I hope yours goes perfectly 😊

@K hey! have you done with your surgery? how r u feeling right now??

Hi! I don't really have any good info about blockages from scar tissue s/p ileostomy reversal. That really sucks that you're having this. I would imagine that eating foods that are easier on your colon is likely. I just did a brief search, and I found an article (copied at the end of this comment) that does talk about some foods that are hard to pass through intestinal scar tissue. If you're having issue with foods passing by the scar tissue, I hope you've discussed this with your surgeon - especially since it can increase your risk for a bowel obstruction. Again, I'm so sorry you're having this post op complication, but hopefully with time it is causing less issues. badgut.org/information-centre/ostomies/bowel-blockage-or-obstruction/

Thanks so much for your comments Robin, they made my day. :) I hope you are doing well in your own journey (assuming you're also on the ileostomy journey). xx

And.....? Can you share if you are ok. If not! Let's not get people discouraged

Did you have your reversal? How are you? Where was your hernia?

@auntieanna5144 hi hope is all well with you. So I had my reversal surgery Oct 5th hernia was on the top of the stoma area. Believe me it's been a long journey trying to get the bowels back up and running on a schedule. Not easy considering I haven't used them for over 2 years. I'm sure it will happen soon. Still not getting a full 8 hours of straight sleep and can't sleep on my side yet. Go for my check up next Monday hopefully he won't find anything else. Hopefully you are on the right track. Did you have an illiostamy done? Thinking of you. 🫂🙏

@milkhoneyco.4481 so hopefully you will get to experience your reversal soon. It means freedom. Freedom from leaks and worrying about if you have enough supplies when you are out or on vacation. Infections and all kinds of other things. It means sleeping through the night. It does take awhile to get back into the real world again but I've heard it's worth it if everything goes smoothly. So back in 2018 I got really sick. No one could figure it out. Was on a couple of antibiotics which helped and then stopped working. So then I started to leak out poop in both areas which got the doctors attention. Went for CT SCAN and MRI and they found that I had a fistula and diverticulitis. So I went had it fixed or atleast I thought it was. Started to happen again . Doctor went in blind sighted and found that I had mesh put in 20 years ago when I had my hysterectomy and bladder lift. So the mesh was taken out and I ended up with an illiostamy bag so that everything could heal up. 6 months turned into 2 1/2 years with it. Nothing but problems with it from the get go. Just glad that it's finally gone. So I'm hoping that you will find relief when yours is finally done. When do you think you will get yours done? Was it put in place for something real painful ? Hope everything goes smoothly for you 🙏. My thoughts are with you..😃

Hi there! Absolutely, I had the same issue. I was so worried about not making it to the bathroom in time when you’re body doesn’t give you much notice. For me, I stayed home and near a bathroom at all times. Honestly, I wore an adult diaper for the first week just for the extra sense of security. The frequency of having to go so often is the first to decrease, for me it was within the first two weeks. After about the first month, there were a few times (once a day or once every few days) where I would still have to urgently go to the bathroom and felt like I didn’t have much time to get there. It’s much more manageable. Now that I’m 2 months out, it still happens every once in awhile, but it seems to be based on my diet. When I eat foods that you’re supposed to avoid with the low residue diet, I end up with the urgency (though this urgency is not as “urgent” as it was initially”) and having to go to the bathroom 2-4 times within a several hours. This part of the healing process sucks, but it should start getting better very soon. For me, it was gradual so I didn’t realize the improvement right away. Hang in there. Wishing you the best as you heal and recover!

@@jessicastressica thank you for the quick response! I’ll definitely keep those in mind and thank you for the reassurance. I’ve been doing kegal exercises to help strengthen things and truly hoping it works. I’m not returning back to work until the sudden urgency ware’s down, and it’s helpful that I at least have a general idea of when it’ll improve. Thank you! Any other advice you’d recommend?

Sounds like you’re doing all the right things! I definitely think the kegel exercises help. I noticed I was having less BMs than I thought I would, which I think is from the kegels - possibly also from deep abdominal breathing. I went back to work at 4 weeks but probably should have waited one more week - but it was ok going back since I was near a bathroom. The one other thing (which I very briefly touch on in the 2 month update I just posted) is how big of a component your diet it. So, definitely following the low residue diet, but also eating the foods that help thicken up your stools (similar to what you’d eat with the bag). Particularly the BRAT foods (banana, rice, applesauce, and toast) and water, this helped with less trips to the bathroom and less painful BMs. Also, while not ideal, I skipped breakfast and/or ate smaller meals for the first couple weeks just to reduce the burden on my colon. Also, I made sure not to eat too close to bedtime so I wouldn’t have any issues at night. Oh - and I avoided going and hard candies - those get your gastric juices going which = BMs. Hope that helps! If you remember, please keep me posted on your recovery! We had similar timeframes for having the ostomy, so it would be interesting to hear if you follow the same timelines that I did. :)

@@jessicastressica were you able to control your muscles better when you got that feeling of urgency? As you’re aware, there’s no warning of when it happens, it just happens. Just curious if this happened to you as well and if you’re able to control it better!

@@potholedxterror0983 definitely! Even with the exercises and trying to eat the correct diet, the large intestine and surrounding muscles were still atrophied. It was about 3.5 to 4 weeks until I felt like I had better control. That's when I could feel the urgency, but I could wait for a brief amount of time before going to the bathroom. It gradually gets better too. Just this last week I felt that urgency to go and wasn't sure how long I could wait, but I was able to wait for about an hour until I was able to go to the bathroom at a more convenient time. It wasn't a comfortable feeling, but my muscles have gained enough strength to where I didn't have any physiological issues from prolonging going to the bathroom after being struck by the urgent need to go.

Hi! My reversal was pretty quick, about 45 min to an hour or so, so I didn’t have a catheter thankfully! No epidural either, though I did have a PCA pump, and they provided some kind of pain reliever around my surgical site while in the OR - not sure if it was topical or injected. Initially I could only sleep on my back after. It took a week or two to start laying on my side with my abdominal wound closest to the bed, another week for my other side. I’m a stomach sleeper and still haven’t been able to lay on my stomach. I was able to finally stop taking pain meds right around the end of 4 weeks. I started to go longer stretches before taking more before I finally stopped taking them. I was able to start doing more activities around the same time. It took me about a week initially to move around though, so it seemed like once I started getting better, I was getting better quickly. I hope you’re healing well and are getting back to some sense of “normalcy!” These types of surgeries are tough to go through, but we will persevere. Sending positive thoughts your way!

@@jessicastressica Thanks so much for answering my questions. Im dreading another recovery process, but excited for the reversal.

Hi this is some of the questions that were on my mind as well. I had an illiostamy done in 2020 due to a fistula of the bladder and bowels. Was only suppose to have it for 6 months tops. It's been 2 1/2 years. I'm more than done with it. So reversal is scheduled for October 5th God willing. But I'm scared of the fact that I haven't used my butt for that long that it might be more painful and a longer process to get back to normal. Your video gives me some hope that the doctors don't tell you. So how many days were you in the hospital and what happens if you don't want to get hooked on pain meds. Do they recommend taking them for the duration of your pain? I stopped taking meds right away after illiostamy surgery cause I was afraid of getting hooked. I have a very demanding job that requires heavy lifting. Don't think I am going back. Epidurals scare me. So I'm hoping for a speedy recovery cause no one around me gets the pain and suffering that I'm going through. It's sad. But your video did put me at ease. Thx 😊

Hi Nancy! I meant to follow up on your comment on my 2 month update video - I appreciated what you said and agree that this is a very emotional experience! It's hard to really know what it's like unless you've gone through it! Sounds like you've had quite the ordeal, I'm so sorry to hear about how long you've had to wait for your reversal. October 5th is right around the corner, so I bet you're counting down the days. So, the usual length of stay in a hospital after this type of procedure is typically 2-3 days, but it really depends on when you're bowels "wake up" or basically - when you start passing gas again. I had my surgery on an early Wednesday morning and discharged Friday late afternoon (though they said I could stay one more day if I wanted). I didn't have any gas until Thursday night, and it was quite the rumbles when it started! The first day I didn't need much for pain medicine because of the topical/dermal stuff they put around the wound in the OR, but I definitely needed some the second day. The problem is that narcotic pain medications will slow your digestive system - aka constipation. If you can get by without narcotic pain medications and can use other pain meds/interventions (tylenol, ibuprofen, toradol, lidocaine patches, heat/ice packs), then that'll help get your GI tract moving and get things working again! Also - chewing gum or eating hard candy will help move things along too! My surgery team had given me a pain pump (narcotic pain meds) initially and then oral dilaudid (narcotic pain med) as needed. By the second day, I was trying not take the dilaudid as I was worried that I wasn't passing gas yet - which it could still take several days after the surgery so I was worrying for no reason really. However, the surgery team did tell me that I should try not to take my dilaudid if I can, but if my pain is terrible then to take it. They gave me a limited supply for after my discharge also, which I did use a couple of times as I was over exerting myself while trying to "get back to normal." Fortunately, pain meds like tylenol and ibuprofen don't have the same addictive pathways like narcotic pain medications do. So, taking those for pain control would be a good way to reduce chances of narcotic pain medication dependence. I didn't need an epidural for pain, and I don't think it would be likely that you would need one. I would assume they will just use the IV in your arm for any non-oral pain meds you would need. If your job requires heavy lifting - then I would certainly be concerned about being able to do that after this surgery. If you don't plan on going back but end up working somewhere else that involves lifting - I would definitely talk to your surgeons about your lifting restrictions. An ostomy reversal is still a major surgery - you'll have a wound healing that goes all the way from inside your abdomen to your skin! That's a lot! :) It's important to let the abdominal muscles heal, and lifting too much can cause a hernia (which can be very dangerous after this surgery). For the first month after my surgery, my lifting restrictions were nothing heavier than a gallon of milk. After month 2, I could lift up to 20 lbs but no more than that. Since then I haven't paid too much about the weight of things I've lifted, I've certainly lifted some heavy things but not often. I think it's better to be overly cautious when it comes to weight restrictions though - after going through having an ostomy placed and then having it reversed - the last thing anyone would want is a hernia or any kind of setback. I hope that helps! I'm so excited for you that you'll have your ileostomy reversed soon! Hopefully you'll be able to get some good rest afterwards!

Hi! They told me it could be anywhere from 2-6 weeks until going back to work. Largely depends on what your job is - how physically taxing it is. I went back after ~4 weeks. Good luck on your reversal surgery!