Nervous About My Upcoming Ileostomy Reversal

Guys, so it's been 2 months since my ileostomy. My doctor already gave me a date for my reversal, which is going to be Friday. I'm scared because I don't know if my body will have a reaction or something. Does anyone know if it hurts or what to expect from my reversal?

G-Day nandezalee, That sounds a little too soon after getting an ileostomy. It should be more like 6 months or more. Talk it over and don't let them rush you. Regards, IGGIE

The nurses in the hospital told me reversal is very painful. 🫤

You have an ileostomy, right? What about your colon? If they are pushing for a reversal after only 2 months, I assume you have a full colon. What caused you to have the ileostomy in the first place? Even if all your plumbing is intact, I agree with IGGIE. Two months seems a bit soon.

As far as what your nurses are referring to as painful, the only thing I can imagine is they are referring to the period of getting your plumbing started again. Or if you have no colon and they are proposing connecting your small bowel to your rectum, the first few weeks can make for a very sore butt due to the bile and the sheer frequency of the output.

More information about your situation and how you got there would really help people who may want to weigh in here.

Daniel

Hi Nandezalee, first, congrats on the reversal! I had a colostomy reversal 4 months ago and have been documenting my progress; please see my posts. Everybody is different, and we all have different reasons for having a stoma. My bowel perforated after two bouts of back-to-back diverticulitis. For me, the reversal was an easier surgery than the colostomy surgery, but I don't know how much of a difference there is between a reversal of colostomy versus ileostomy. If your intestines need to rest and heal, it seems like 2 months is kind of soon. Please do some research, be your own advocate, and take all your questions to your doctor so you can be fully informed before surgery. Also, just throwing this out there, but most nurses and doctors who care for patients with stomas and reversals have never been through the things that ostomates have, so in my opinion, they don't really know how painful it is or isn't. Do your research and be your own advocate. I found that the reversal was easier to go through, I think... Just my own opinion based on my own experience, but when I got the colostomy, I was sick, so my body was fighting a disease and trying to heal from the colostomy I had versus getting a reversal in a healthy state. For me, the most painful part of the reversal was the rectal pain, which has just recently started to subside but not gone. Take care of yourself; gentle healing after reversal is so important.

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Just to throw another response in the mix: reversal was actually my least painful surgery.