# Reversal Surgery 27th June



## JMC

Three months has flown by since my resection on 27th March and I now have an appointment to have my ileostomy reversed.  I expect this to be a relatively minor procedure compared with the open surgery I had earlier, but would be interested to hear from people who have had their stoma reversed recently.  My appointment says I should expect to be in the hospital for 7 days, I was hoping it would be more like 3 to 4?  Also, how long will it take me to get back to work?


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## Trysha

Hi JMC
Just wanted to say "Hello"
I cannot answer your questions since I have not had this type of surgery, however I have no doubt there will be other forum members who will be able to help.
Hope everything goes well for you and that you will be up and going in no time.
Don't be in too much of a hurry to resume all the normal things, give your body time to heal.It is a big attack on your anatomy.,and can take time.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha


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## b1ackmai1er

Hi jmc,
Don't underestimate how long it will take to recover. Like for your ileostomy it will take 3-4 days just for your gut to restart. I would expect 7 days in hospital and then 4. Weeks rest.
From my own experience, I found that it took a very long time to recover and stabilize. It has been over a year now for me and I am still not sure what normal is. However, I did have complications.
My expectation was that I would be same if not better after re section and iliostomy reversal but I have found that my quality of life is poorer and mentally I struggle to understand how this can be.
I wish you the very very best of luck but hope you are mind full that your expectations may be very high.
It is good to get the bag off!!!!
Best wishes


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## 2thFairy

No info for you JMC, but congrats on your upcoming reversal!


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## Samboi

Please keep us updated JMC. 
I'm hoping to get my reversal scheduled for late September - so would love to know how you go with yours and any complications you may experience so I can anticipate them where possible. 
Hope yours goes well!!


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## JMC

Heading to the hospital soon, surgery is at 18:30, wish me luck!


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## 2thFairy

YaY!!!!!  You can do it!!!!!!!  wooHOO!!!


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## Samboi

Oh wow - exciting!!
Good luck!! 
Hope it all goes well.


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## JMC

Never has breaking wind been more satisfying, bring me some food!


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## Loshy79

Hahaaaa....Congratulations I guess :ybiggrin:

Wishing you a speedy recovery.


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## 2thFairy

Hahahaha!!  Good news! :applause: 
Enjoy your food.


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## littlemissh

Excellent news, onwards and upwards!


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## bigtruck

Brilliant keep her lit! I'm waiting on my reversal too but pooing and breaking wind both ends in the meantime lol.


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## JMC

Just eaten some soup, a tuna steak, some jelly and a yoghurt. After 60 hours without food, it was divine!


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## JMC

Going home tomorrow, woohoo!


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## 2thFairy

wooHOO!!!!
...and may everything continue to be positive from here on out.  

Good for you!!!


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## littlemissh

Exellent news again. I am sure you will enjoy your own bed and home food .


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## JMC

Not for the faint hearted, but here is my stoma wound with "purse string" stitch.  The hand you can see is my wife's cleaning and dressing it.  I am lucky she is an accident and emergency medicine doctor, so as she put it "I do this sort of thing every day"   I reckon if I told people I had a gunshot wound, no one would doubt me!


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## Samboi

Wow! Thanks for sharing JMC. It looks amazing. Does it heal from the inside out? 
How long will it take to heal?


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## 2thFairy

Why isn't it closed all the way?  Is this just the standard way reversal is done?


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## JMC

It cannot be stapled shut as the skin would close over and the hole inside would not heal.  In that case you would end up with a pocket of infection and a baggy flap of skin over it.  It therefore needs to heal from the inside out, which means the wound is packed daily and gently pulled closed by the purse string stitch.  Apparently, it should result in a fairly neat wound scar.  I have to see the surgeon again next week, I guess he may tighten the stitch slightly if it has started to heal.  As far as I know, this is the conventional and only way of doing it.  

Today I bought some bio oil as main resection scar is not looking great and has a very mild case of keloids (over growth of scar tissues).  If anyone has any tips for improving the healing of scars let me know!


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## 2thFairy

Interesting.  

I make keloids like nobodies business!  I have no helpful tips in that area.


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## Samboi

Thanks JMC. I'm watching your progress very intently for when I have my reversal at the end of the year. Thanks for sharing - I am living vicariously and learning heaps!


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## CrohnsHobo

Holy Cow! 

That wound is crazy! 

I go in for a reversal of my temp colostomy next week. I hope I can avoid something similar, but I guess it is better than the bag. I have my pre-op appointment on Thursday, so I will no more then. 

Guess I was not expecting to see such a wound, don't know what I expected I guess. Thank you for sharing.


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## bigtruck

This is the normal way to close an ostomy as it results in a flatter scar in case of the need to bring another ostomy out in the future.


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## JMC

My wound is healing well, the amount of dressing that can be packed into it has roughly halved in the last week.  The only issue I have is that the "purse string" stitch does not seem to be very well sited and has cut through on one side.  I am going to see my surgeon again in the next few days, so will see what he can do with it.


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## 2thFairy

You look like a Calvin Klein commercial, complete with sexy female hand near your waist.  Hahaha!


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## JMC

I saw the surgeon today and he took the purse string stitch out.  This certainly stung, but nowhere near as bad as having 40+ staples taken out of my resection wound.

He was very happy with my progress, the wound needs to be packed for about another 10 days, then I just need a plaster over it until it heals.  I told him I was still having crampy pains and urgency to go and he said this was quite normal at this stage.  The interesting thing is that it is not from the area that was recently reconnected, but in my sigmoid colon where two small sections were removed back in March.  If things progress well, this should clear up in the next 4 to 6 weeks, but he did warn me that this phase can go on much longer in some cases.  I am also now able to take loperamide (one or two a day) and start to add more variety to my diet.


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## 2thFairy

YaY!!!!


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## bigtruck

Brilliant


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## Soybean

Hey JMC, looks like you're healing nicely  re something to help reduce keloid scars, my fiance was told by a dermatology dr years ago that Healan (think that's the correct spelling, will double check tomorrow) tape works well. I think it's actually for psoriasis. I have some for some keloid scars on my arm ( used it for a while, with good results, but as it was fiddly to cut up I stopped using it....must restart it now I think of it!). It lightens any skin around the scar that it comes into contact with, but once you've finished using it, it goes back to normal. There's also things like dermatix gel and the same thing but in a patch instead. Ask your gp aboot them, they should be able to prescribe them for you.

Soybean xx


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## Soybean

Just checked and it's haelan tape (generic name is Fludroxycortide). Here's a link explaining what it does 

http://www.typharm.com/typharm/docs/Haelan_Tape_SPC.pdf

Silicone Gel Sheets - scroll down to the bottom and listed under the heading Silicone Gel Sheet are all the products available on the NHS for scar treatment.

Silicone Topical Cream & Gel  -the first section under the heading Silicone Topical Cream & Gel is a list of all the creams and gels available on the NHS for scar treatment.

http://www.ppa.org.uk/edt/July_2012/mindex.htm - Haelan is listed generically under Fludroxycortide 4micrograms/square cm tape 7.5cm. AFAIK it is not licenced for the treatment of keloid scars, so your gp may not want to prescribe it (although they are perfectly within their right to prescribe it if they feel it will work). Also haelan tape is cheaper than the gel patches and creams/gels in regards to cost per length of time needed for results.

You can buy certain gels/creams and patches from any pharmacy (if they don't have them in their first aid section they can order them in for you from their medication suppliers) but they can be pretty expensive (see the basic cost on the pages I linked to....and that is just the basic cost the nhs deem fit to pay the pharmacy, that doesn't mean that the product costs that much to buy before tax and it certainly isn't the price a customer purchasing the product without a prescription would pay).
xx

Edit: Grrr stupid drug tariff website won't let me link to individual pages  so for the gels, creams and patches click the contents tab and click *Part IXA - Appliances*, click *DRESSINGS*, then click on either *Silicone Gel Sheet* or *Silicone Topical Cream & Gel* .

For the haelan tape click on the contents tab and click *Part VIIIA - Basic Prices of Drugs Product List*, then click *Part VIIIA products F* haelan is listed generically under Fludroxycortide 4micrograms/square cm tape 7.5cm.

Alternatively just click the search tab and search for dermatix which will bring up the side bar for the gels/creams and silicone sheets, and fludroxycortide which will bring up the side bar for all drugs allowed on the nhs begining with F


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## Terriernut

Hey JMC, how are you doing today??  I am hoping that the pain of running to the loo isnt too great.  Hoping the immodium is helping.

That was great info Soybean about the scar tissue healing!


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## JMC

I have been taking two immodium a day and it has definitely improved things.  I went to work today, it is a 45 minute commute on the train and tube and had meetings for most of the day.  I did not have any problems, but probably went to the toilet 4 or 5 times while in the office.  So things have not settled down completely, but it feels a lot more under control and the crampy pain is getting better slowly.

Since the stitch came out of my wound, it has changed shape a lot.  It is now much shallower, but quite wide.  I would guess it is about 4-5cm across, so it going to leave quite a big scar.  I was hoping it was going to be completely healed by my holiday in early August to make swimming, etc. easier but that looks unlikely given the size of it.  

My resection scar has also improved quite noticeably since putting bio oil on it a couple of times a day.  The keloids are still quite lumpy and I have not yet investigated any of the treatments Soybean suggested.  I will probably give that a go next week.

The good news is that I continue to see some small improvements every day and I am feeling much healthier than I did before the resection.  It is also very noticeable since having my colon reconnected that it is much easier to stay well hydrated (as you would expect).  I am no longer drinking lucozade every day and have not experienced any of those crappy/tired sort of feelings you get when dehydated.


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## Terriernut

Good news then!  Back to work so soon!?  You are a trooper!  

I think it's too soon to suggest this, because you are still tender inside.  But, several weeks ago I started talking Psyllium Husks, and my output has gone from diarrea all the time to pretty darn solid!!  This has actually given me the confidence to start fighting really hard to get my reversal done ASAP.  So, a wee bit of that might help with your output in the near future?

(it was Dusty and her kids suggested psyllium husks...and thank you to her!!)


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## bigtruck

What about methylcellulose instead of psyllium it doesn't ferment in the gut the way psyllium does.


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## JMC

Terriernut said:


> Good news then!  Back to work so soon!?  You are a trooper!


I actually only had 2 days off work for the reversal.  My surgery was on Wednesday (29th June), I came out of the hospital on Sunday (1st July) and started working from home the following day (2nd July).  I went into the office for the first time on 6th July as I needed to run a monthly committee meeting.  This week I worked from home Mon-Thur and then went into the office today.  I will probably do a full week in the office next week, though I am fortunate that I have an understanding boss and do the sort of job that allows me to work from home any time I need to.

What this has made me realise is just how ill I was in the run up to my resection!  I was still going to work, but really struggling.  I am feeling so much better now and work is so much easier as a consequence.  I know some people (including my surgeon...) would say that you need 4 weeks rest to recover, but I really don't, I feel great already and cannot think of any reason not to be working.


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## CrohnsHobo

Can't believe you went back to work so fast. You are a trooper. I had my surgery in April and am still out of work. Thanks for the updates, it is nice to see how others recovery from the reversal is going.


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## Terriernut

You youngun's can get back to work so quickly!  I had a Hartmann's proceedure (they dont like to reverse those) and the surgeon said 8 weeks off.  I hope like heck it isnt that long! I need commission!


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## Samboi

Wow - you've got better so quickly. That's amazing!! 
I'm planning on 6-8 weeks for my reversal - already budgeting for a lengthy period of not working and developing my DVD collection for long days on the couch. 
Based on your experience - I'm being ridiculous!!


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## JMC

Samboi said:


> Wow - you've got better so quickly. That's amazing!!
> I'm planning on 6-8 weeks for my reversal - already budgeting for a lengthy period of not working and developing my DVD collection for long days on the couch.
> Based on your experience - I'm being ridiculous!!


I asked around before my reversal surgery and no one seemed to know what the recovery time would be.  I think you just need to play it by ear and see how you feel.  

When I had my resection, I told my employer I would need 4 to 6 weeks off.  For the first two weeks after my surgery, I was definitely not fit to do any work.  After 3 weeks, I felt pretty much fully recovered, so started doing some work from home.  After 4 weeks, I was ready to go back, but _enjoyed_ another week at home, just because I could!

This time round, there was a bit more pressure to get back to the office and I felt great, so could not justify sitting at home watching TV and listening to music.  I have to say though, I really did enjoy the time off when I had my resection (sounds a bit weird, but true) and got to watch some great programmes particularly on the History channel.  Having a Tivo box with load of on demand content and a Spotify account for music was a real blessing!


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## Samboi

I also think that often we are so terribly unwell when we have the initial surgery - this dramatically effects recovery time. 
To do the reversal - we generally have to be in pretty rude health - otherwise they simply won't do it. So if you're in good condition - of course you're going to heal more rapidly. 
You must be very super healthy on that basis!!

It's taken me a full six months to recover from the initial surgery. 
I'm taking a worst case scenario approach based on this alone!! 
I'm very encouraged by your experience though.


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## CrohnsHobo

I was set to go back to work at the 8 week mark, felt OK to do so. Then a few days before I was to go back it prolapsed out and I was back in the hospital and ever since I can't imagine sitting in a desk chair for 8 hours a day with this thing. 

I will admit that I feel guilty missing so much work. A little jealous of those of you that made it back so fast.


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## Heather_D

Great to hear you are doing so well JMC!


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## JMC

Thanks, I am doing well and completed another day at work today. The plan this week is to do 4 days in the office and 1 day at home.  My stoma wound is still pretty big, but not really causing me any issues.


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## JMC

In the end, I went to the office all 5 days last week.   I left a bit early on Wednesday and went to a hospital appointment on Thurs morning which meant I was out of the office for a couple of hours, but other than that I did a full week's work.  

I am still getting bouts of diarrhoea, but my gastroenterologist, who I saw on Thursday, said this is to be expected and it is caused by excessive bile salts passing into my colon.  Hopefully it will settle down in the next few weeks, but if it does not I may need some additional medication.

My wound is continuing to heal well, it is much shallower now and slowly decreasing in diameter.  I now wash it in the shower (water only) and dress it myself.  This is how it looked this morning.


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## Terriernut

Still looks a bit painful!

Could you slip that towel a bit????  :devil:


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## JMC

Actually, it does not hurt at all, but I agree it still looks a bit scary


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## Terriernut

I'm glad it doesnt hurt!  You are doing fab going back to work full time so quickly!


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## JMC

Well, I am done with work for a while.  Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week I will be at the Olympics and then on Sunday I fly off to Portugal for my summer holiday.  It was last year in Portugal that I got obstructed which ultimately lead to surgery.  Fingers crossed I have a better holiday this year!

Given that the stoma wound still has not healed completely and I will need to wear a dressing, I decided to buy a couple of rash vests to wear by the pool.  My resection scar actually looks pretty good now, the bio oil really seems to have made an improvement and I doubt you would notice it if I was just in swim shorts unless you were standing right next to me.


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## Heather_D

Glad to hear you are doing so well!!  Enjoy your holiday!


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## JMC

I am now in Portugal, enjoying the sunshine in the Algarve.  Here are some pictures from Saturday night at the Olympics.  I am the one in the Great Britain vest and red cap.  It was an incredibly night and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the most amazing sporting event I have seen in my lifetime.


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## CrohnsHobo

Thank you for the picture of your wound. I have been filled with anxiety thinking something was wrong with it despite no symptoms of infection, just based on how it looks. 

Mine looks similar to yours. So seeing yours makes me feel a bit better.


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## JMC

Good to hear this has been of help.  My wound has now largely healed.  It is still not pretty and I seem to be getting keloids, but the hole has completely filled in and the diameter of the wound has decreased significantly.  I will try to get an up to date picture tomorrow.


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## CrohnsHobo

I saw the surgeon today and she said everything looked good. She said for her cancer patients they usually heal in 6-8 weeks, she said for the Crohns patients that come off long term steroids like me take about 10-12 weeks to full heal. 2 weeks down, 10 to go! lol


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## JMC

This is how it looks at the moment.  The wound has filled in and now seems to be covered in a thin layer of skin, which can bleed if it is rubbed or cleaned.  I am still wearing a dressing, but spend several hours a day with it exposed to the air.  My stomach muscles are still out of shape with a bit of a bulge around my belly button, but hopefully that will improve.


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## bigtruck

Is that not a lot of over granulation tissue when it's so red an bleeds so easily?


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## CrohnsHobo

My surgeon told me yesterday that mine is ok if it bleeds because all of that exposed tissue is just bundles of blood vessels. 

Like JMC said, mine only bleeds a little when I clean it with rubbing alcohol and clean it really good.


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## JMC

I've not posted anything in this thread for nearly two month, so time for a quick update.  After that picture was taken back in August, I wondered if the healing processes was nearly done.  Well it turns out that the process of skin forming over that granulated tissue was a lot slower than I expected.  Essentially, it has healed from the edge inwards with a small ring-like scab a few mm wide forming and the exposed area getting progressively smaller and smaller.  A scab has now formed over the remaining area and I am optimistic it will actually complete the healing process in the next week or two.  I have been fortunate that the wound has never become infected, I just washed it with water in the shower every day and put a simple dressing on it and it has healed without pain or problems.  I guess with a hole that big though, you need to expect it to take 3 months or more to close up.


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## Terriernut

Did you keep a photo diary of the process?  And do you have any recent pictures?

How about the bowel movements (to help others going through the proceedure) how are they now?


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## CheerBear12

Congratulations on your reversal and so glad it's healing well it looks really painful and sore tho. Hope it keeps getting better and better for you xx


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## JMC

Terriernut said:


> Did you keep a photo diary of the process?  And do you have any recent pictures?


I stopped taking regular pictures back in August as it was not changing much from one week to the next.  I did actually start to wonder whether it was going to close at all as it was quite a large hole.  Then I began noticing how a small ring of scab was forming at the edges and it was gradually getting smaller.  I have a few recent pics and will post something later.



> How about the bowel movements (to help others going through the proceedure) how are they now?


Things settled down after about 5 or 6 weeks and not much has changed since then.  My stools are still not really firm and "normal" and I have occasional bad days when I need to take loperamide.  Although not entirely back to "normal", this is not causing me any problems and I suspect this is quite normal given the procedure I had.  I am due to see my GI on 18th October so will confirm with him if this is to be expected.


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## elrafantas

Hi JMC, thanks for your posts and pics, they have been really helpful. My reversal is this Friday and I just wondered...do you remember the day before your reversal - were you allowed to eat normally? The sheet they have given me says to not eat anything after 2am on the day of the op, but I think this is just a general sheet they give to anyone having morning surgery. I now can't get through to anyone to ask although I'll keep trying. Also, what hospital did you have yours done in? I'm in UCH


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## JMC

Hi elrafantas, nil by mouth six hours before the operation was the only restriction. My surgeon Christopher Chan works at Barts and the London, my operation was done at the Harley Street Clinic on my employer's medical insurance.


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## elrafantas

Very nice!!

Big thanks, I will be sure to shovel down a nice big pizza the day before


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## JMC

Here is how it looks at the moment


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## Terriernut

Alot smaller!  Healing nicely I'd say.  Thank you for posting that.


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## MsOJ

JMC - Thanks for these posts and glad to see that you are healing well
I'm going to see my surgeon next week to try and get a reversal date out of him...
I didn't realise about the purse string closure, so that's definitely a question to add to my list.
With the dressing of the wound I know you said your other half is an A&E doctor and was able to help with that, but if not how long do you think you would have needed a district nurse for? And would that be daily?
Also going to check out the scar product info that Soybean posted


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## JMC

MsOJ said:


> With the dressing of the wound I know you said your other half is an A&E doctor and was able to help with that, but if not how long do you think you would have needed a district nurse for?


A few weeks while it is a deep hole and dressing (Aquacel in my case) needs to be packed into it.  Once the hole filled in and I could just wash it with water in the shower, I did the dressing myself - if you can change an ileostomy bag, then sticking a dressing on it is easy.  Good luck!


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## JMC

And then it was gone!


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## MsOJ

Wow that's amazing.
I twisted my Dr's arm to prescribe me some of the silicone strips and they seem to be working really well


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## bigtruck

Brilliant I'm supposed to be reversed shortly after Christmas, unfortunately he thinks as mine has shrunk so much that he's not even sure if it's even worth trying to close it without opening the midline great fun, or in his words " a harder op for you and me!"


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## Paul Heath

Off to see my surgeon re reversal, your progress has been very helpful, thanks.
Anymore up dates ?


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## JMC

The scar from the stoma wound is now starting to look like a "T" shape rather than a big purple blotch. I guess the horizontal cut is the original wound to exit my ileum and a vertical cut was made below it when it was detached/reversed.  Generally I am still very well and the surgery and stoma now seem like a distant memory. 

At the moment I am trying to exercise my abs to get a nice flat stomach back, if I manage it, I will post another picture.  

 HD


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## 2thFairy

wooHOO!!


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## JMC

It was a year ago today, that I woke up after having a right hemi-colectomy and 9 months since having the reversal.  This is how those scars look today:







Health wise, the last year has been the best I can remember in 15 to 20 years, I just hope it continues that way for as long as possible!


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## DustyKat

Wow! Looking good JMC!  

I too hope the good times just keep on keeping on! :goodluck: 

Dusty. :heart:


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## CheerBear12

Hope your well too and scars are looking well too


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## Heather_D

Wow!  Your scars look great.  I think might still stand out more and my surgery was a year ago on March 22nd.  Glad to hear you are also feeling great!


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