How long between LARS, stoma and reversal for you?

Did they do genetic testing on your tumor? If you are one of the lucky people who are MMR deficient, immunotherapy may be a good option.
See: https://www.mskcc.org/news/rectal-cancer-clinical-trial-msk-changed-everything-its-patients
Good Luck

They did test and I my cancer is not the type that responds to immunotherapy. Thanks for your reply but I am really hoping someone can share there reversal experience in terms of how much time between LARS, stoma and reversal? I have heard anything from 7 weeks to 7 months or a year.

@michaelfromsf, I'm tagging @cjay @lou3 @happygrandpa @pjebp @verol65, who may have experiences to share with you regarding the timeline low anterior resection (LARS), stoma and ostomy reversal.

Hi, @michaelfromsf , I'm glad you didn't have any metastasis!

I had a type of LAR that did not involve a stoma/ostomy of anykind. To remove my whole rectum, sigmoid and mesorectum (lymphnodes), my surgeon used a technique called a two-step Turnbull-Cutait pullthrough with coloanal anastomosis. This means I underwent two surgeries:
* a long one (mine was 5 hours due to a couple of complications; usually it takes 3 to 4 hours between 2 surgeons) to resect the whole thing and pull the colon through the anus, about 5 to 8 cm.
* after staying in the hospital for one week (in some hospitals they send people home), a short operation (1 hour) for the coloanalanastomosis: they cut the bit of colon that was hanging out and handsuture the colon to whatever they left you with of rectum (in my case, it was next to nothing).
This is a complex procedure, but it avoids the temporary ostomy. You might want to discuss this option with your medical team.

Whether you have this surgery or a LAR with temporary ostomy or reversal, you have to be prepared to suffer from LARS because you will no longer have the holding places that the rectum and sigmoid are. Your way of going to the bathroom to defecate will change. I find this video to be a good explanation without being morbid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL7YJC_F-yg. And you might want to join LARS support groups on Facebook. You could listen to this podcast: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/butts-and-guts/low-anterior-resection-syndrome. You could visit this site for information and tips on nutrition and other aspects of living with LARS: https://livingwithlars.com/. Some people fare better than others. Usually it seems that those of us who didn't get an ostomy tend to fare better than those who did, but it's a very individual thing.

If you're interested in the FB support groups, I can send you the links.

Hi there, I had most of my rectum taken out by LAR (with ileostomy )in March 2024, chemo now for 4 rounds(preventative ) I had no lymph nodes or organs affected. I meet the surgeon on Aug 8 to discuss reversal of stoma. Hopefully October we can set date . I’ll keep you posted. The meeting with surgeon is the only thing keeping me going through chemo now, light toward end of tunnel) Lou3

I heard the same time frame. I had LAR March 2024, now chemo until sept 9/24, then hopefully end of October for reversal. I’ll keep you posted because I meet with surgeon on Aug 8 to set date. Hang in there!!!! Lou3

Hi @michaelfromsf,
I was diagnosed with T3N2 CRC in January 2023, and had my resection in April 2023, where they removed the tumor, my sigmoid, 2/3 of my rectum. and 26 lymph nodes, 13 which were cancerous. I had a temporary ileostomy which I had reversed at the end of September 2023.
I started FOLFOX in May, and continued until the end of August. I had to wait month after the chemo ended to have my reversal surgery.
Good luck and keep fighting!

Is there any possibility of immediate resection? I had a fairly large tumor in my sigmoid. I also have ulcerative colitis. My surgeon went in and removed the tumor and part of sigmoid, and resected the left side. The tumor had also gravitated towards my right side, getting caught up in some mesh from a prior inguinal hernia repair. They had to remove my ovary, appendix, cecum and then they resected that spot as well. I did have a staple pop loose shortly after surgery, that caused an anastomotic leak, but they were able to go back in and fix it with resection.

Hi Michael, sorry to hear about your diagnosis and treatment so far. Mine was a T3 rectal tumor. I did the 6 weeks of chemoradiation with near CR, then a break before LAR surgery in May 2023. Did cleanup chemo from June to October (I didn't have chemo before LAR like you) and then had my reversal in November. It was long path, but reversal was very successful. The ostomy was something I was nervous about, but was definitely doable and there are lots of resources out there to help live well with that. Given the bad stories I had heard about reversal, I was open to the idea of living with a stoma, but I'm so glad I went for the reversal. It's rough getting your system up and running again, but I am living a very full life with no restrictions and no urgency. Things can vary a bit from day to day, but very manageable. It is great to have my body back. Hang in there, this is no fun, but it is all doable and each segment of treatment does come to an end.

Thanks so much everyone for your very helpful replies. Right now we are deferrimg the surgery and continuing Watch and Wait (NOM). Next scans are MRI/CT ab/CT chest on Aug 16th. Most recent Natera (DNA blood test) was again zero (has been since Oct 2023). Thanks again for the support. Glad to hear not all reversals are always so tough.