Recovery Tips for Post-Rectal Stump Removal Surgery

I am due to have my rectal stump removed on the 30th November 2010 I am starting to get very anxious about having surgery again ( I had my ileostomy 8 years ago ) can anyone reasure me how the recovery is after I would appreciate any advice ?

So you are about to become a barbie butt.....LOL..........I am a Ken butt...all sewed up and loving it...no more issues down there ever.........



With regard to recovery,  everyone is different,,,,,,,,,,some things you might want to be aware of is  

                1.  be careful on where you sit and go gingerly as the butt cheeks and the sewing that takes place down there is extremely delicate and you dont want to mess that up....so for a while you might want to have  a sitting pillow to sit on........

                      2.  as far as as the wound,  and its healing process.....I will give you my journey........My cheeks beyond the anus area  were sewed together in two diff areas to protect the sewed up anal area...........as time went on the outer layers of sewn butt cheeks is where the stiches would disappear and allow my cheeks to start spreading.........no joke......this is and was done to protect the site of anal area that was sewed and i think to remind me of the operation.......You will realize after the surgery just how important and how often used are the butt cheeks.

                    3.  once my cheeks had opened up and you could now see the anal sewed up area(  I couldnt but my docs could)  my wound would seep as that area never had a chance to dry .......Its a dark and moist area and healing for me took a while.......I would wear a feminine napkin down there to keep dry ..........MY healing took longer than most,  but i have know people on this site to heal w/in 6 weeks to a half a year.........



I wish you well and Hope i have helped...Michael



Upon re reading your post,  am i right in saying you are having the anus closed as well?  I originally assumed rectal stump removal requires anus  to be sewed as well.....Just wondering.

How much rectal stump was left inside? And in what condition is your rectum?
These data influence the healing time, together with pre- and post-surgery complications.

For those who had cancer and needed radiotherapy, the healing process can take much longer than normal.

If you have severe proctitis (inflammation of the rectum), it perfectly leads to post-surgery complications.
The healing process can vary from a couple of weeks to over 12 months.
Nobody can predict how long it will take in your case, because everybody is different.

I will tell you what happened to me (don't get scared)
My proctitis was severe and accompanied by chronic and painful arthritis attacks.
So I asked my surgeon to remove my rectum.
What nobody tells you before is that men are likely to suffer erectile problems because all pleasure nerves go down into that area. The chance to establish ejaculations lowers to 5 - 10%. Men have to freeze their semen if they want kids afterward.
I was lucky, my production unit was up and running at 125% capacity, against all odds.
But I was not very lucky with the post-op healing part. Within 3 days the area started swelling up and in less than a day it burst open, producing large quantities of pus.
It was seriously infected. Not painful though.
For the next 12 months, I had a big open wound of 10 cm by 18 cm. I went back to work with big sanitary towels in my trousers which was embarrassing and uncomfortable, but I lived my life. Every day I put my behind in a plastic basin with a wound-friendly bathing gel.
I could not ride a bicycle all that time because I felt like sinking over the saddle.
It wasn't the best part of my life, but I do not regret my decision because it has been worth it.

And as a One Time Bonus, I will also tell you about my partner.
She had a rectum amputation 2 weeks ago in the Royal London in Whitechapel.
Right after the surgery, her bladder stopped working. They estimated a 24-48 hours period in which it should have started functioning again. She ended up going home having to use a catheter 3-4 times a day because they might have damaged her sacral nerves to the bladder and/or bladder neck. Possibly this damage is not reversible. Coincidentally she met a guy on the ward who also had bladder AND prostate damage after the same surgery by the same team.
Although her proctectomy (rectum amputation) was not a dramatic one, the wound totally opened and has been rather productive till date.
She showers and takes baths normally because it helps the wound keep clean. I change the dressings daily and we estimate that this wound might heal in a month or so, but it may take longer, who knows.

Her stay in the Royal London has been appalling, and worth a denounce, but I will not mention what happened in this thread. I want to dedicate a separate topic to this ordeal.

I wish you good luck with your operation. Just be careful where you have it done and by whom
🔒 Login to see image


Cheers.

Hi craftytaff, I have my butt sewed up 8 yrs ago, due to colorectal cancer, and as stated above, the incision passed through one of the radiation sites , which didn't want to heal. Fortunatly we have a naturpathic Dr and she helped with the healing (diet/supplement)

Other than a couple of stitches didn't dissolve , right where my mother never kissed me

🔒 Login to see image



🔒 Login to see image

, the surgery was fine. Recovery should be the same as any other surgery.

Cheers Bob

Hey Craftytaff.  Don't worry any more about this surgery vs. any other.  Due to Crohn's disease, I had a proctocolectomy almost a year ago.  My doc placed a couple of drain tubes in my butt cheeks for the few days after the surgery and that gave me more discomfort than anything else.  The closing of my anus and removal of the rectum was inconsequential.  The only problem now is occasional itching (I think its just the scar tissue), phantom passing gas and rarely the urge to have a "normal" bowel movement.  



When I initially had the surgery I was afraid of deformity (you can't tell a thing!) and that it might be hard to walk etc. at first.  It was no big deal.  I was in the hospital 5 days and back at work in about 3 weeks.

Getting Support in the Ostomy Community with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Well, here's a thing.

I had a proctectomy 12 years ago, and apart from the healing, which took about 6 weeks, it has never troubled me.

Until recently.

I have had a hernia for a couple of years, one in the groin. Finally, 8 weeks ago, it got too big to be lived with, so I booked myself in for surgery. In the meantime, so I could work, I wore a support belt. Within three days of wearing this, my rectal area started itching, feeling sore, feeling cold, etc. Yet, there were no outside signs of any soreness or anything.

My GP said it was probably the belt pushing a piece of my gut against the inside of my scar tissue, and I would get used to it, or it would go after the hernia op.

It sort of wore off a bit, then I had the hernia op.

All was healing up for about two weeks, my sore butt seemed to disappear, then I went for a 3-mile walk about 2 weeks post-op.

The day after, my rectal area seemed to explode. Itching, sore, cold and hot feelings. Feeling that I could feel my insides working near it.

Have seen 3 GPs, two of whom said it was a fungal infection, even though it wasn't sore.

All have said that there is no new hernia, no cyst, no lump there, and it is certainly not inflamed.

Then one said that indeed it was possible that something could be pressing against it from the inside, after all, without a colon, or a rectum, my guts could move down into that cavity.

Then the surgeon who did the hernia op categorically said that this couldn't possibly happen, yet other doctors have said that it can.

Who do you believe, eh?

Funny because sitting down relieves it to an extent. I stand up, and within a couple of minutes, I get a feeling of downward pressure there.

Maybe it's muscular? Seems to get worse when I walk and stand for a while.

Maybe it's circulatory, and sitting down squeezes blood out of the tissue, standing up lets it get full again.

Very odd and very annoying, and a feeling that it's with me nearly all the time, apart from when I lie down.

Anyone else get this or have any ideas?