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I am so excited to be having the second surgery.  I just had my barium enema and everything was very healthy the doctors said.  My surgeon called and asked if I was ready to get "that bag off my belly" when he gave me the results of the barium.

It has been a tough 3 months after the total colectomy.  I am so ready to not have to change bags, be able to sleep on my stomach, etc..  Can anyone give me advice or stories about their experience with the take down surgery?  How long was the recovery time for you?  My surgeon is awesome and my wife and I have been extremely please with everything.  He said this was much easier that the first surgery and I should only be in the hospital about 2 days after the surgery.  Thanks for your input.

Nathan

 Reply posted for midda123.

I had the ileostomy in december of 2008

 Reply posted for gvillevols.

I had an ileostomy in December of 2007, at that point there pain concern was getting me better.  I didn't really agree to having this but I really didn't have a choice.  I had a colonoscopy on Valentines days 2008 and my docotr called me about three days later and told me I could go and have it reversed.  I had the surgery on March 17 and went back to work on April 2.  The surgery was a breeze other than catching a bug that I was throwing up with.  Good Luck!!!!!! 

 Reply posted for gvillevols.

Congrats!!!!! I had my takedown done last January and I am thrilled with the results.I was in the hospital about  2weeks but I cought c-diff .As far as the surgery a breeze compare to the reconstruction .The only problem is how often you have to run to the bathroom and a sore bottom but there is meds to slow you down and creams to help soothe.The one I found that works best is Calmoseptine cream.You can expect to go to the bathroom 10 to 15 times a day for sometime and slowly decreasing over time to about 5.  Hope this helps and good luck your almost done.   

Having "take down" surgery in a week....Kelly,

I was refered to a GI doctor in Mass by a relative who has 3 kids with Crohns and insisted I go there because it is one of the best.  The care there was outstanding when I had my surgery and I have nothing but good things to say about everyone I dealt with from the GI to the surgical team.  My GI is Dr K and he is one of the heads of the IBD division there.  Dr. S is the other (that is who I was told to call) but he was not taking patients at the time.  My sister-in- law works there and Im not sure if I got preferential treatment (I doubt it) but I got right in.  The dr met me and spent a good 45 minutes to an hour with me the first visit and he is a fantastic guy who is very caring as well.  The surgeon he reffered me to is Dr H.  I checked his background and it looks flawless and when meeting him he is very personable and not like most surgeons (dry).  He did a nice job so far and was very attentive and checked on me regularly as did his staff.  I had so many people working on me it was hard to keep track.  The nursing staff after the recovery was amazing.  They were right there and never made me feel like I was a burden even though I would apologize for making them do some of the things they had to help me with. :)

Anyways Google these guys or check up on them yourself but I have been very happy so far.  BTW Dr H will come up with a bogus lawsuit with an x-football coach.  I checked into it and he was only on call that weekend and was not ever in the room with the guy.  He just got dragged into court because of that.  The case was thrown out I believe anyways but I thought I would give you a heads up.

 

Good luck with everything,

 

Peter

 Reply posted for psj1026.

Hi Peter,

Can you tell me who is going to perform your j pouch surgery and if you live in the New England area. I am in the process of consults for J pouch surgery and was wondering if people on this site would be willing to make a r ecommendation.

Thanks,

Kelly

 Reply posted for gvillevols.

Hi Nathan,

Can you tell me who performed your surgery and if you live in the New England area. Hope you are doing better. I am in the process of consults for J pouch surgery and was wondering if people on this site would be willing to make a r ecommendation.

Thanks,

Kelly 

 Reply posted for gvillevols.

Nathan,

I am going for mine the end of February so I can't offer you any experience.  I was wondering how it went for you after your first surgery.  I have had a few problems with my stoma being to short, almost inverted so I just started trying a convex bag and so far so good.  Now I am getting more and more discharge from my rectum.  After surgery it was bloody and fecal.  Now it is like clear with some whiteish matter, at least that's the best I can describe it.  Everyday it seems to increase and last night (after being awoken with several bag leaks previously) I now had my first anal leak at night.  I get one thing fixed with my bag ( I hope!) and now this.  I had other complications and I always hoped for the best but expected the worst some I am still in good spirits but I was wondering if anyone else has had the same experiences.  My doctor says it's normal but since it is more frequent and now I need to worry about accidents when I am preparing to go back to work on Monday it makes me a little anxious.  I was getting used to standing to pee again but I need to relieve the other problem 10+ times a day.

Best,

Peter