Is it normal to have a bowel movement 9 months after a stoma?

I had my operation around 9 months ago and have had around 4 barium enemas to see if I had healed enough for a reversal. It has been around 3 months since my last test.

Yesterday I had an actual bowl movement and since then my abdomen has been quite painful. I have tried contacting my stoma nurse but have not yet heard anything and last time I spoke to my doctor about my stoma I had to explain to him how it worked so he is not much use.

Can anyone tell me if this is normal or offer any advice?

[worried878]

did you have the reversal done?  Are you saying you had a BM from ur rectum while your stoma is still present and working?

[zariel09]

I havnt had the reversal yet.  I had a portion of my bowl removed during an op for endometriosis and yes I had a BM while my stoma is still there and working fine, it was confusing to say the least.

I have strong pain killers at home for the endometriosis symptoms (mefenemic acid and co-codamol 30/500) which I usually only need during my period but am having to take now

[PennythePearl]

Hello...I can't speak for how normal it is to have a bowel movement thru rectum but I can say that I know it happens. My mother turned 85 today. She had her temporary colostomy done  2/10 due to diverticulitis resulting in bowel obstruction. After agonizing for almost a yr whether she wanted to undergo surgery to take it down she started experiencing bowel movement thru rectum. Naturally it was disconcerting and she went back to the surgeon who put it in place. I wasnt there on the visit but she says he told her that he had left part of the colon connected and that explained the bowel coming thru. She had been upset so its possible she misunderstood but it didnt make sense to me and why it didnt explain why it happened after 11 mos??. This was the deciding factor to have the colostomy taken down and also the fact that my mother had never comes to terms with the whole process and at 84 she was starting to have problems maintaining the colostomy. It wasnt meant to be. We all thought we were home free and that she could regain her self confidence and colostomy-free quality of life when 3 days later she became sepsis. She had a leak from small intestine and the colotstomy was put back in place. What was temporary is now permanent. I believe it was put back in error because the leak was suspected to be at the hand sutured surgical site, but it was not. The surgeon told us after surgery that he had to pull and manipulate her colon to match the 2 parts together. I believe the perforation was caused from the pulling of  thin tissue from yrs of problematic bowel movement and diverticulitis added with a lot adhesions. I dont know if this is a case of medical mistake or just risky surgery gone bad. Thats my yr long saga but thankfully my mother has returned home somewhat less capable from the whole medical nightmare but not defeated. I truly witnessed the "power of love" and "will to live", I am on this site for the 1st time because I am seeking WOC nursing assistance for my mother. I just finding out about WOC nurses cuz my mother never had one. Not even in the hospital. The regular Techs would just wipe her clean with a wet washcloth and put a 1 piece drainable pouch on her. She learned from watching them. There is so much more to know especially when things go wrong. I am astounded at how little information and training is provided to ostomates with such a life altering procedure.

[eminio]

This is news to me. The only one who can give you better explanations is the surgeon that performed the surgery.