Ileostomy Reversal Surgery Journey - 7 Month Update
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- Опубліковано 7 лис 2024
- My 7/7.5 month update after having an ileostomy reversal. I previously had a large bowel obstruction, leading to an ex-lap, bowel resection, and loop ileostomy for 7 weeks. This video I touch on how my GI system has been, my wound healing, and the emotional toll of this journey.
Thank you so much for your videos regarding your reversal. I really appreciate your honesty and transparency. Your videos have been by far, the most informative regarding reversal surgery. I wish you continued healing and success in medical school.
i really appreciate hearing you talk about medical trauma and mental health, I went through a long hospital stay, ileostomy surgery, and a crohn's diagnosis about a month ago. I'm really scared to get the reversal eventually because of how bad my crohn's flare was before and to be in the hospital again, so it's really nice to hear about your experience, thanks!!
Went to urgent care with a pain in my upper midsection. Was put in and found intestinal blockage then had 3 surgeries in 2 days came ou8t with an ostomy. Almost died according to doctor. That was a year ago and am going to have a consultation pretty soon so hopefully I can get reversed and have a little more regular kind of life. I have adapted so if I can;t get it done I will accept it and live on. Things are different when you are young and concerned about body image and when you are old and thankful to still be alive and doing what you need to do. Life is strange you never know what is going to happen. I never was in bad health my whole life and I get this so I am lucky I guess got all my bad stuff at once :)
I hope you are doing well now. 🙏🏾
@@Afrinaturality doing well 😊
Hey Jessica, how are you doing now? I had an emergency laparotomy and ileostomy because of internal adhesions which damaged my small intestines (adhesions formed following unrelated surgery to remove fibroids) and also ended up in ICU. My stoma was reversed a couple of months ago and things are looking up, although I do have some days where I'm aghast at what i went through. I am so grateful to God, healthcare staff, friends and family for helping me get through this. This experience really makes you value having a support network. I wish you very well. 🙏🏾💜
I had commented on your video a few months ago. I had my ileostomy for 7 months and was glued to my house. Ive had 7 months of emptying my bag about every 2 to 3 hours unless I needed to go out somewhere and then I didnt eat or drink anything. Needless to say, no sleep or interrupted sleep. I had contact dermatitis from the bag and donut adhesives along with other problems but I had no choice but to power through. My reversal was April 21, 2023. Now Im dealing with hernia possibilities in 2 different places and bowel movement changes from day to day
I am however starting to regulate to my old schedule. Yaaa! Yes adult diapers or pads, desitine, preparation H, and lots of cleaning up is occuring. I don't care because like you, my doctor could not believe I was walking around after he saw my CT Scan. I had such scar tissue that my ovary, my appendix, my badder and bowels were incased. After approximately 11 hrs of
surgery he saved my life. I tolld him it's a party everytime I poop! I too relive my surgeries. How can you not. You will make a great compassionate and understanding doctor because of your experience. Best of luck in Med school.
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. :)
They told me not to take any kind of high fiber foods or OTC's like Metamucil..
I'm about 7 months after closure (August 10th, 22) as well and it's been difficult to predict what's going to happen. Like you, lots of gas, urgency. I seem to start the day ok, firm stools. But once it starts it doesn't always seem to want to stop.
Yes, Imodium and gas-X has been very helpful. I'd hoped things would be much more normal by now but I've got to remain patient. In some ways things have improved but not to the point where I'm completely comfortable doing things like traveling etc..,
I have also found that daily D3, zinc, and a probiotic have helped tame this savage beast. (less urgency and frequency)
BTW, your scar looks a heck of a lot better than mine. They sent me home with that hole wide open. (looked like a shotgun blast. I could have reached in a grabbed the small intestine with a finger.) Now it just looks like someone took a big bite out of my right lower abdomen, I used to have an outy belly button now its an inny, slightly skewed to one side. lol.
Do some core exercises like planks for your tummy. It helps, and it'll help keep any adhesion's broken up.
You'll feel better, and stronger too! Start off slow (15 seconds) and work up a little at a time. You'll like the look too!
Yep, heck with the boo-hoo stuff. I'm sure you had some very rough times that only those who have experienced the same could understand. But as you said, you'll be the one to talk to when others in your life face similar challenges down the road. You'' be the rock for others Jessica. (and a uniquely experienced physician) Stay strong-
Best of luck to you. I've used your channel as help for me. Thank you. You're the only I found that comes close to describing where I'm at in this adventure. Mine wasn't an emergency surgery, but there were complications that kept me in the hospital for a month the first time and 2 weeks for the closure. I also had an emergency return to hospital because of a blockage caused by an adhesion. Such fun! 😐
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).
Thanks for sharing this. My takedown surgery is next Tuesday - 1 week! - and I really appreciate you telling your tale. Question - at seven months do you feel you have passed the point where you lose control, or do you still wear adult diapers just to be safe? Tryling to figure out what supplies I need to gather for next week.
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 went through the same my bowel burst and have to have emergency surgery I was in icu for over a wk then my stoma had no blood supply so had to have it all reopened and same happened again so they decided to put my stoma on my right hand side I have now had a reversal and a hernia repair am 4 months post op still in a little pain but slowly getting their I suffer ptsd now I do struggle at times
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
After how many months we can eat others food
like chilly, spicy food etc
Plz inform
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.