Ileostomy Reversal

pepperdog
pepperdog Member Posts: 96
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Has anyone out there had their reversal while in the middle of 5FU drip therapy? My husband just finished his first 5FU (post-surgery) and was scheduled to have his reversal in July. The surgeon says he's done a couple while the patient is doing chemo. The oncologist says it depends on how my husband's labs look when the time comes. I would welcome any comments.

Comments

  • goldfinch
    goldfinch Member Posts: 735
    #2
    I think the most important question is How is you husband tolerating the chemo now? Does he experience a lot of cramping? i know his stool is loose with the ileostomy, but is it looser when he gets the chemo? Dealing with severe diarrhea while recovering from reversal surgery may be tough.
    Mary
  • Moesimo
    Moesimo Member Posts: 1,072 Member
    #3
    I had all of my rectal tissue removed and had my ileostomy reversed and then had more chemo with 5 fu and leukovorin. I had poor sphincter control and lots of diarrea, not a good combo. I would suggest waiting until done chemo and then having the reversal. I had tolerated the preop chemo well, but after the surgery, along with radiation damage, things did not work well.

    Maureen
  • 4law
    4law Member Posts: 110
    #4
    My surgery was in early Jan., 2005 and adjuvant 5FU- leukovorin started in early March. After 3 weekly doses, I ended up in the hospital due to very low potasium levels. It was felt that the ileostomy contributed to the low readings because a lot of the nourishment from food left my body too soon due to the ileostomy before being able to be fully absorbed. Although the original plan was to reverse the ileostomy after the completion of the chemo (32 weeks), it was reversed sooner -- but the chemo had to be delayed to wait for healing. After a healing period of about 6 weeks, I restarted the 5FU (without credit for the 3 treatments). The consensus in my case was that having the reversal surgery during the chemo would be too much for me to endure, so I was taken off chemo to allow my body to heal before restarting chemo. I was very concerned about interupting the chemo, but in the greater scheme of things, it made sense -- your body has limits to what it can endure. I believe that continuing with chemo during the reversl surgery and healing period would be too much to take. 5FU adjuvant stopped in Dec., and colonoscopy and CT scans in April show NED. My vote would be to wait for chemo to finish before reversal, but if reversal is done, stop the chemo and wait for healing and then resart it. Good luck!
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #5
    4law said:

    My surgery was in early Jan., 2005 and adjuvant 5FU- leukovorin started in early March. After 3 weekly doses, I ended up in the hospital due to very low potasium levels. It was felt that the ileostomy contributed to the low readings because a lot of the nourishment from food left my body too soon due to the ileostomy before being able to be fully absorbed. Although the original plan was to reverse the ileostomy after the completion of the chemo (32 weeks), it was reversed sooner -- but the chemo had to be delayed to wait for healing. After a healing period of about 6 weeks, I restarted the 5FU (without credit for the 3 treatments). The consensus in my case was that having the reversal surgery during the chemo would be too much for me to endure, so I was taken off chemo to allow my body to heal before restarting chemo. I was very concerned about interupting the chemo, but in the greater scheme of things, it made sense -- your body has limits to what it can endure. I believe that continuing with chemo during the reversl surgery and healing period would be too much to take. 5FU adjuvant stopped in Dec., and colonoscopy and CT scans in April show NED. My vote would be to wait for chemo to finish before reversal, but if reversal is done, stop the chemo and wait for healing and then resart it. Good luck!

    Thought you would 'sneak' that NED in, huh???? NO CHANCE!!!!!
    HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE!
    Also, that makes sense about chemo/surgery combo...I had a bowel obstruction following my resection, after my breast cancer was dx...they 'waited' on the chemo for the bc until after I recovered from the obstruction surgery...I can't imagine I could have handled the 'runs' I got from chemo while trying to recover from surgery...
    Hugs, Kathi

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