Living with an Ileostomy

Life Can Still Be Rewarding, Even While Living with an Ileostomy

Sometimes treatment for Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and familial adenomatous polyposis involves removing all or part of the intestines. Ostomy surgery has actually been around since the 1700's and has been greatly improved upon. When the intestines have to be removed, the body needs a new way for stool or feces to leave the body, so the surgeon has to create an opening in the abdomen for stool to pass through. The surgery to create the new opening is called ostomy surgery and the opening is called a stoma. When you have one of these diseases, and you have to have surgery which means you will end up living with an ileostomy, you might think it's the end of the world. But it's not!

Yeah, you say, it's not you. No! It's not me, but it was someone near and dear to me who ended up like this. And I thought that he would think the same way. Well...was I surprised! I really was. I even told the kids not to tell him, that I would need to tell him myself, but the doctors told him without us knowing it. And you know what? He was not angry, nor was he upset, nor was he mad at the world either. He made jokes about it, but he did say that he would miss farting. Yeah, farting! He was a great cut-up, a jokester and an all around fun man. And he was not going to let this upset his life. And he didn't!

Let me explain the ileostomy versus the colonoscopy, ok? The difference in the type of ostomy depends on how much and what part of the intestines has to be removed. The different types are called ileostomy and colostomy. When the colon and the rectum are removed, the surgeon performs an ileostomy to attach the bottom of the small intestine or ileum, to the stoma. This resembles a small sort of rectum on the abdomen. The ileostomy produces a more pasty to liquid bowel (depending what you've eaten or drank) movement than the colonoscopy, which produces a more solid bowel movement. When the rectum is removed, the surgeon performs a colostomy to attach the colon to the stoma. This is the difference between the ileostomy and the colonoscopy.