Hi Teresa, I was seen at UW Madison by a rectal-colon surgeon yesterday. His manual exam was thorough and he did not see a fistula. He discussed the possibility that it has healed over or that some extraneous tissue has covered it. He had me do some squeeze and releases during his exam and he feels that I should be able to control bowel movements if the ostomy is reversed, particularly since I am able to tell when I need to have a bowel movement. First, however, we need to determine the presence or healing of the fistula. He will also do an Exam under Anesthesia to try to locate it as well as to further loosen the rectal stricture which resulted from the surgery in August for rectal prolapse repair. The surgeon that I saw in January made two incisions into the stricture which reduced the tightness somewhat but it seems to have re-tightened somewhat.

My UW surgeon's goal (mine too!) is to reverse the ostomy but that will be deferred until after the EUA procedure in a couple of weeks to
locate the fistula or evidence that it has healed over.

Thanks for your concern. I have great confidence in this doctor and I know he will do his best for me.

Hi Teresa. I met with a Colorectal specialist at UW Hospital in Madison, WI in February. He did a digital rectal exam and asked me to squeeze in order to determine whether I might have control of stool if he were to reverse the colostomy. He said he felt that I would be able to do so but suggested I do regular squeeze exercises. He said he also would like to do a EUA (exam under anesthesia) since his in-office exam didn't reveal a fistula. We did the EUA which also did not reveal the fistula so then scheduled a Barium Enema. The scans were clear and no evidence of fistula was seen. I am now scheduled in mid-June for takedown of the colostomy. I am both excited and anxious, worrying that #1 the fistula is actually there and will raise its ugly head after the surgery, necessitating yet another, and permanent ostomy or #2 that I will be spending most of my life in the bathroom, not being able to have a normal, once daily bowel movement and perhaps not gain sufficient control. And there is always the worry at my age of having another major surgery. I keep wondering if I am placing myself at undue risk by going ahead with this, even though this surgeon has done many colostomy take-downs and is confident of a positive outcome for me. However, he cautions me that a healed fistula may recur since that area, though healed, is weakened from its previous trauma. If that happens, a colostomy is again in my future. I am certain that I have found the right doctor for this procedure and I also understand that it will surely take some months for my colon to find its routine and become somewhat reliable if I take care to eat properly, drink plenty of water and continue withy my daily exercise routine. Fingers crossed! Thanks for listening.

Hi Teresa-it has been awhile since my last update and have good news to report! I transferred my care to a colorectal specialist in Madison,Wi. After a manual exam, and a rectal exam under anesthesia and Barium enema, he too was unable to find a fistula. We then proceeded to schedule the takedown of my colostomy! The procedure went well, I spent 3 days in the hospital and am home again with NO colostomy!!! This procedure was done on 6/14 and I had my post-op visit 2 days ago. My incision is healing well, and I am now able to transition the low fiber diet gradually to a more varied food list and hopefully can return to a somewhat reliable bowel movement schedule! In all, I am so happy to have finally come to this point without the colostomy! I had feared this would never happen and I'm so grateful to have found a surgeon who was willing to take me on. For all those people out there, this all began nearly a year ago so it has been a long, long ordeal, and there were many times when I felt hopeless. But my husband, daughters and friends bolstered me, encouraged me and urged me not to give up. And thanks to Mayo Clinic Connect for giving people like me a place for information, encouragement and suggestions. I have referred several of my friends to this site.