J-pouch scars

Hi BenB,

Well, each surgeon has his or her own technique...They most often, as far as I know, do a vertical scar from above the belly button down but then again others may have a different way of doing things.

In the long-run, why does it matter as long as you are well...? I have more scars than a victim of a car accident...my body looks like I have gone through a windshield tummy-first...but, and this is a big but...I know people with perfect abs, perfect bodies who are miserable...so, it isn't the scar that makes us who we are it is the scar that proves who we were...

and how far we have come.

Sharon

skn69 posted:

Hi BenB,

Well, each surgeon has his or her own technique...They most often, as far as I know, do a vertical scar from above the belly button down but then again others may have a different way of doing things.

In the long-run, why does it matter as long as you are well...? I have more scars than a victim of a car accident...my body looks like I have gone through a windshield tummy-first...but, and this is a big but...I know people with perfect abs, perfect bodies who are miserable...so, it isn't the scar that makes us who we are it is the scar that proves who we were...

and how far we have come.

Sharon

Hey Sharon, I was just curious. I'm going for it regardless of the scars. I'm going to be 100x happy than I am now with either the Ileostomy or a J-pouch.

I had emergency surgery to remove my colon as I was the on the brink of death.  My scar does from my public area to just under my rib cage and measures a foot long.  When I had the a twist in my small intestine fixed they cut long the same scar but only about 4 inches under my belly button.  ^months after that I have my j pouch done and it was only about 4-5 inches in the same place.  Two C-sections and they tried to clean up the scar tissue so this part of my scar looks much better then my older parts.

I was so sick that I still have scars from the staples.

My surgeon told me that most people have a small horizontal incision in the middle of their abdomen below the belly button followed by two or one incision son each side of the abdomen, depending on whether your surgery is a two part one or a three part one. Normally the underwear covers the longest scar which is the horizontal one below the belly button, it's obviously done because there are many people who are self conscious. 

Some people have the long vertical scar cut through the middle which can look ugly but honestly I think it depends on the healing. If you have a 9 inch keloid scar than it's not going to look pretty and weight gain makes your scars more noticeable. I think it depends on the individual because having looked online there are many people who have surgery scars that I barely notice and in other instances there are individuals who look like they've been run over by a train.   

BenB, when the time comes, it's certainly worth it to ask your surgeon if a laparoscopic surgery is possible. Some do, some don't.

Lambiepie posted:

BenB, when the time comes, it's certainly worth it to ask your surgeon if a laparoscopic surgery is possible. Some do, some don't.

My first surgery, getting the large colon removed and the Ileostomy is being done Laparoscopic so my surgeon certainly does it. I didn't think the J-pouch was done via key hole. Have no discussed anything with him about it yet as it's something to be considered down the road once I have had time to heal.

Roger1066 posted:

My surgeon told me that most people have a small horizontal incision in the middle of their abdomen below the belly button followed by two or one incision son each side of the abdomen, depending on whether your surgery is a two part one or a three part one. Normally the underwear covers the longest scar which is the horizontal one below the belly button, it's obviously done because there are many people who are self conscious. 

Some people have the long vertical scar cut through the middle which can look ugly but honestly I think it depends on the healing. If you have a 9 inch keloid scar than it's not going to look pretty and weight gain makes your scars more noticeable. I think it depends on the individual because having looked online there are many people who have surgery scars that I barely notice and in other instances there are individuals who look like they've been run over by a train.   

That's what I noticed, some have the small horizontal incision, others the large vertical one. Obviously the smaller one would be everyones first choice if possible. I didn't know if the large incision was down to some sort of complication or something along those lines

I'm going to, should I decide to go for the J-pouch, have 3 stages. Was advised to do so by my surgeon. He said that some people have the first surgery and their life becomes so much better that they don't want to chance it by having more, which makes perfect sense to me. Doesn't want to do more than necessary

Ben, I've had all my surgeries done via keyhole (colon removal & j-pouch), and all I'm left with is 6 very small scars that have now faded loads along with the site where my stoma once was which is constantly improving as the new skin covers it. Worth talking to your surgeon about it mate, and all the best for your surgery.

My surgeries were done laparoscopically.  I have a very small scar-less than an inch where the stoma was.  I have another very small scar where there was a drain.   

My procedure was done in three steps.  I was never opened up any further for any of the surgeries.

JordySimo posted:

Ben, I've had all my surgeries done via keyhole (colon removal & j-pouch), and all I'm left with is 6 very small scars that have now faded loads along with the site where my stoma once was which is constantly improving as the new skin covers it. Worth talking to your surgeon about it mate, and all the best for your surgery.

CTB23 posted:

My surgeries were done laparoscopically.  I have a very small scar-less than an inch where the stoma was.  I have another very small scar where there was a drain.   

My procedure was done in three steps.  I was never opened up any further for any of the surgeries.

That awesome, Ill definitely have a chat with him about it. Like I say, I didn't even know it could be done via keyhole

Thank you

There is another faint line in the upper pubic area.  So not so bad.  Since I knew what I wanted from the start, it was all explained to me ahead of time.

Yeah pal, just like CTB, mine was done in three steps. It's safer for males to be done in three steps as it gives a chance for the pelvic area to heal (lessens the chance of becoming impotent, etc...). Any questions you have feel free to ask.

 My scar from my hysterectomy is much worse, from my belly button, about 6 inches down like a zipper, all staples.  It probably should have been done by a more skilled surgeon.  I've learned to live with it.

Ben, im UK too, i was keyhole and have the horizonal scar below the underwear line, an incision in the belly button, an incision on my left (now healed invisible), and my stoma scar incision too.

My surgeon was happy to do the 1,2 or 3 step process on me because i was fit and healthy, but he recommended the 2 step as he felt that was the best chance between giving the body time to heal after colon removal and getting me well again asap minimal suffering. Worked out as well as can be expected for me to be honest.

Sounds silly, but I'd go with what your surgeon recommends, don't ask him to do it keyhole if he not comfortable doing it that way, not all surgeons have the same keyhole knowledge and experience!  In my area the are 6 surgeons that do bowl surgery only 1 specialises in laparoscopic ally assisted procedure (fortunately i got him).

Forgot about the small incision above the belly button.  Probably because it lines up with my hysterectomy scar.

if the surgeon does say he won't do it keyhole and you're really set against having a big scar, there is potential to ask for a referral to somewhere that will e.g. St Marks in London (specialists in ibd) I requested referral there when my other consultant was running out of ideas to treat my problematic UC, 2 years later I had emergency surgery there in the middle of the night, all was done keyhole. I've currently had 2/3 stages done, so far 2 tiny tiny scars on my left side one from a drain. I had a good long conversation with the surgeon ( I'm interested in studying medicine) and he said 3 part surgery if you have the time to recover is usually best due to less post op complications he said he usually considers doing 2 part surgery if during the second surgery it all goes 100% perfect which he nearly did with me but I had other unrelated health complications at the time so he decided to just let it all heal first. the 3rd part of my surgery is most likely due in a month or 2 from now depending on pouchogram results. If I hadn't requested that referral back then I would of ended up with regular surgery at my original consultant, it's also worth considering a bigger wound is more likely to become infected and obviously needs more time to heal!