At the end of August, I had the first surgery done where they made the Jpouch w/ temp ileostomy. Due to insurance reasons, I couldnt afford the other surgery until it lapsed over to this year. I just went in for an xray study (where they fill your pouch with liquid and xray it) and the surgeon thinks there is a small leak.
My second surgery is scheduled for the last friday of this month. Now what Im wondering is if the surgeon can fix the leak and do the reversal in the same surgery? How do people with 1 step surgeries have bowel movements after? Do they use a anal catheter until their system is healed and stay on liquid diets? Im just trying to reduce the amount of time I have to go under the knife and obviously costs are a big issue because I can only afford 1 surgery a year due to insurance problems. (75k max)
Any input or people that have gone through a similar situation and what they did would really be helpful. I would like to be fully prepared before my appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. From what she had hinted on the phone, she was hoping to wait out another few months to see if this small leak will repair on its own.
Original Post