What is an ostomy reversal? Medical procedure explained after former Bachelorette Emily Maynard dishes on son's recovery

Former Bachelorette star Emily Maynard Johnson recently shared the status of her 7-month-old son Jones West post his Ostomy Reversal operation. In her April 27 Instagram stories, she shared a picture of Jones in a hospital gown and said:

"I love him so much. And for those who have asked, he had an ostomy reversal and it went great."

Jones is Emily and Tyler Johnson’s 6th child and was born with down syndrome as well as with a rare congenital colon abnormality.

Jones is recovering from his ostomy reversal operation (Image via emilygmaynard/ Instagram)

According to the verywellhealth website, an Ostomy/ ileostomy Reversal is a technique which “rejoins the two ends of your bowel after an ileostomy.”

In this operation, the two ends of the stoma are joined again, and the belly is once again closed, which was earlier opened to “send the contents of your small intestine out of the body.”

Stiches or staples are used to rejoin the ends of the bowels. After the operation, the patient can return to the “normal elimination of fecal waste through the rectum” and the “stoma pouch can be removed.”

Usually, an ostomy (and later on it’s reversal) is done on patients who have colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and to help reduce septic complications.

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Emily Maynard Johnson calls Jones' her "easiest baby"

Emily Maynard Johnson and Tyler Johnson welcomed their sixth child, Jones West, on August 31, 2022. The couple did not opt for genetic testing during the pregnancy so they learnt about Jones’ down syndrome until he was born.

Jones was also admitted into the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit for one month due to his colon abnormality. She said at the time:

"It was not on my radar at all. And I refused to believe it. I just wanted to hold him and for everything to be OK."

Johnson later on praised Jones for being the “easiest baby” in terms of sleeping and putting up with the other kids. After his Ostomy Reversal operation, Emily Maynard Johnson posted an Instagram story of her two-year-old daughter Nola Belle holding a Barbie doll with down syndrome. She said:

"I may be new to this community, but it makes my heart so happy to see giant companies like @barbie including Down syndrome in their lineup. Nola Belle was clearly just thrilled to get a new Barbie.Thank you @barbie for the sweetest gift ever."

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About Emily's dating history

Emily was engaged to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick when he passed away in a plane crash. After that, she discovered that she was pregnant and gave birth to her first daughter Riddick “Ricki” Hendrick in June 2005. In June 2011, she won The Bachelor’s Brad Womack’s season, but the pair broke up.

Emily Maynard Johnson was then named the season 8 Bachelorette and she accepted Jeff Holm’s proposal, eventually breaking it off after the show. She met Johnson in a church before The Bachelorette and reconnected later on. After dating for a year, the automotive management consultant proposed to Emily in 2014.

Johnson proposed to her and Ricki at home with two separate rings. Emily said:

"It was so sweet! Ricki loves him more than she likes me!"

Emily Maynard often posts pictures of her family on Instagram, where she has more than 650k followers.