UOAA Discussion Board

Good afternoon all!

I got my Ostomy about a year ago. I somehow managed to catch a rare flesh eating virus called Fournier's Gangrene. I didn't realize it until I was rushed to the hospital after passing out at work. I had thought I was just 'backed' up with severe constipation and was trying every home remedy I could find. I digress.

The virus ate away at the skin of my inner butt cheeks. I can laugh about it now but at the time it was fairy terrifying. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks on heavy antibiotics and painkillers before they were confident I was going to live. Unfortunately as a result of where this wound was they had to give me an ostomy since regular bowel function would infect the wound.

The wound was 'closed' as of January, and prep began for reversal surgery. Did barium enemas (front and back), had a colonoscopy, etc. Everything looked good and my surgery was scheduled for this past April. My insurance company kind of screwed me last minute so I decided to postpone so I wouldn't be healing during another miserable Arizona summer. In hindsight I think it was a good idea to allow the fresh skin between my cheeks to further heal and thicken. So now I'm getting the reversal in 2 weeks.

I'm just a little nervous. Well, a lot nervous. I'm consciously telling myself I'm going in 70lbs lighter, smoke less, quit drinking completely, and most importantly, I'm not on death's door going in. But I worry about complications, incontinence, embarrassment, and more. In reading through these forums, I see a lot of stories, but most of them seem to involve needing an ostomy due to gastro issues, or cancer. Since those don't apply in my case (my intestines and rectum were not damaged by the virus) I'm hoping my prognosis is better than it would be otherwise. I've been doing my anal kegels or whatever they're called hoping that I'll be able to hold everything in.

But yeah.. I guess I wanted to hear from individuals that have been through similar experiences, preferably telling me everything will be fine. My wife is wonderful and supportive but she's never been through it.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to this group Jbeach. You had a very rough time with that flesh eating virus. Glad you pulled through. Congratulations on smoking less, drinking not at all and losing weight. Also on doing your kegels. Unfortunately I was not advised to do those before my reversal although it probably would not have helped, in my case, since I had surgical and radiation damage to the anal sphincter muscles. I see no reason, in your case, that you should not have a successful reversal! You seem to have done a lot of prep for it and all the tests. Best wishes. Please let us know how it goes.
To Good Health

Hi JBeach, I'm 7 weeks out from stoma reversal surgery. My stoma was created during emergency surgery after a colon rupture. I had the colostomy for 5 months with the reversal scheduled earlier than planned because i had developed a large and very painful parastomal hernia. But what you want to know about is my post-op recovery. I had very little pain after surgery. The first two days in hospital i had a lot of rectal bleeding but it was expected. I was discharged on day 4 and passed my first small BM on day 5 without pain but with a lot of pressure. It scared me but it was normal. I didn't have any loss of bowel function, no bleeding, only the pressure I mentioned. For about 4 weeks i had 5-6 small BMs each day. I'm now having 4-5 per day. I saw my surgeon again last week and he said i was doing fine. He said that it can take up to a year for the large intestine to be able to hold a full stool as before. This is the least of my worries. I'm feeling great, muscles are working normally and I'm getting back to normal. Thank God for modern medicine. My colostomy was lifesaving and i thank God daily for it.