I'm down to just a tiny little section of my former stoma site on my abdomen now that needs to close. It's otherwise all fully healed up.

It's kind of weird now to think how I regularly shat into a bag for about 15 months whilst I had my stoma.

I've got entirely used to going to the loo via the regular method again. I don't even think about it much now.

#stoma #colostomy #colectomy #ProctoSigmoidEctomy #FormerStomaHaver #StomaReversal

For anyone interested, I'm almost entirely recovered from my stoma reversal (reversal of Hartmann's procedure, aka proctosigmoidectomy reversal) on 2023-12-27 🏥

The last thing remaining is my former stoma site.

It started off as 7 cm wide by 4 cm tall by 3 cm deep.

There's now just a tiny area that has yet to heal over.

#stoma #ProctoSigmoidEctomy #HartmannsProcedure #colostomy #colectomy

My recovery is continuing to go really well.

I've still got the dressing over the drain site and over the former stoma site (open wound that needs to close naturally), but I no longer need a dressing where the abdomen incision was made, as it's entirely knitted.

I'd honestly forgotten the joy of not having a stoma, as I can now fully pull up knickers, leggings, tights etc. without causing issues to a stoma bag 🥰

#stoma #ProctoSigmoidEctomy #colectomy #colostomy

For those who don't already know, I had to have an emergency proctosigmoidectomy (Hartmann's procedure) in September 2022.

I was meant to be offered a reversal surgery this September, but due to NHS waiting lists, all I was told was that it wouldn't be this year 😔

I chased them up politely and have been advised that tenuously I *might* be offered a reversal surgery sometime in January to March 2024 🥺🤞

#stoma #ProctoSigmoidEctomy #NHS #NHSEngland #colostomy #colectomy

However delicious it looks, do not consume roasted cauliflower, broccoli and onion altogether in one meal.

It is very much a trap, albeit a delicious one 😅

Very much nearly blew out my bag overnight from the gas alone, and it filled up entirely with gas and very liquidy waste this morning once I got up.

#stoma #colostomy #colectomy #ProctoSigmoidEctomy

While recovering from the emergency #proctosigmoidectomy that gave me my #stoma, I was advised that I would still pass goo / mucus balls "occasionally".

I think the doctors underestimated just how much mucus my body produces 😅

I squeeze mucus out of my rectal pouch daily, sometimes even a couple of times in a day.

On the plus side, if the NHS ever actually gets around to reversing this for me, I won't have forgotten how to use my poop muscles 🤣

#colostomy #colectomy

That feeling when your stoma is starting to prolapse, but you're not sure if it's finished pooping yet, so you're unsure whether to put on your ostomy belt yet today 😅

Put it on too late & you've got a dangly stoma that you've got to squeeze back inside.

Put it on too early & you'll possibly blow out the bag if poop gets stuck around the top of the ostomy bag.

Fun times all round 🙃

#stoma #ostomy #colostomy #colectomy #ProctoSigmoidEctomy

Such joy when your ostomy bag fails at birth bottom edges in the night, letting poop juice slowly seep through on to you & the bed sheets 😮‍💨

Love this for me 🙃

[Massive implied sarcasm, by the by.]

Fortunately this is a very, very rare occurrence, usually due to a quality control issue with a single ostomy bag in a box.

#stoma #ProctoSigmoidEctomy #colostomy #colectomy

20 years

Writing a little more about it next week.

#Colectomy