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.