Two Surgeries for Ostomy Reversal - Is It Necessary?

Earlier this year I had a colonoscopy and my GI doctor said there is no active signs of Crohn's, no scarring, no inflammation, NOTHING.  He said he sees no reason why I couldn't have a reversal done and that I would more than likely not have any complications moving forward.

With that said, I had a consultation with a surgeon and the surgeon said he would want to do two surgeries. First to reconnect and then put in a temp illeostomy for 8 - 12 weeks to allow the reconnect to heal.  Then have a second surgery to take down the illeostomy.  The surgeon was very short and I could tell by the answers to my questions that he did not thoroughly look through my history.  When first diagnosed with Crohn's, there was very little inflammation and other GI's I saw could never confirm a strong diagnosis, basically they said I had very bad IBS rather than Crohns.  Anyways, I want to get a second opinion about only having one surgery to take care of it all at once.

Has anyone that had reversal surgery done gone through two separate ones like what is being proposed to me?  Just trying to get some feedback to maybe see if two surgeries are indeed necessary.  My biggest concern with having two surgeries is something going wrong and then I am stuck with an illeostomy.  Mentally and physically I can handle having a sigmoid colostomy but I don't think I could ever handle having an illeostomy.  I have a lot of respect for illeostomy patients b/c I know they must go through a lot more issues than us with colostomies.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks for your post JD90. I can fully appreciate your concerns and deliberations on this issue. I hope you get lots of replies from people who have been through both processes so that you can compare. However, when it come down to the decision making, it is a very personal affair and we are all different in the way these surgeries affect us. From my own perspective, it sounds as if your surgeon is erring on the cautious side to make sure that as little can go wrong as possible, which sounds like a reasonable approach. Sometimes trying to get everything done in one go is increasing the risk of things going wrong. On the other hand there are always risks either way round. I just hope that whatever decison you make will turn out to be the right one.

Best wishes

Bill 

I just had a reversal done (for a ruptured diverticula 3 1/2 months ago ), a week ago last Friday. Initially a laparascopic approach was attempted, but due to the amount of adhesions from endometriosis and previous surgeries  they had to open midline from umbilicus to pubic bone. The surgeon was able to hand suture the anastamosis and then filled the abdomen with saline and with a rigid sigmoidascope filled the colon with air to see if there was any air  leak at the anastamosis sight. There wasn't. I had a Penrose drain at the stoma incision before it was pulled 3 days post op. I have stayed on a low fiber diet since I was discharged 3 days after the reversal . I see my surgeon tomorrow  but so far so good. I am having soft formed stools since last Thursday. Good luck with your surgery. I would probably get a second opinion.

Ninny

Thank you for the posts.

I am going to get a second opinion for sure.  I hope others will share their experiences on this post.  The more info the better.