LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Beloved 'Friends' star Matthew Perry, who died from an apparent drowning on Saturday, October 28, once revealed that he was given an ileostomy bag, which is a pouch used to collect waste from an ileostomy opening, after a failed surgical attempt at removing his colostomy bag.
Notably, ileostomy is a surgical procedure in which a part of the bowel is brought through an incision in the abdominal wall, and it is typically required when a portion of the colon needs to be removed or when an issue makes the ileum function improperly, as per the American Cancer Society.
Perry underwent 14 surgeries after his colon ruptured in 2018, resulting from his contact use of opioids, and spent five months in the hospital.
According to TMZ, the adored Chandler Bing on 'Friends' was discovered dead in his jacuzzi in the exclusive Pacific Palisades suburb of Los Angeles on Saturday shortly after 4 pm.
Why is an ileostomy required?
There might be several reasons behind a person needing an ileostomy but the procedure is usually done when the large bowel has to be removed or rested after treatment or surgery.
When someone gets an ileostomy, waste no longer exits the body through the rectum and anus but rather through a stoma on the abdominal wall, and a bag is attached to it for collecting the discharge.
Depending on the diet, medications, and other circumstances, the ileostomy output can range from liquid to pasty. For most people, the pouch has to be emptied five to eight times a day as the output is continuous.
Treatments for several illnesses include ileostomies. Moreover, a temporary ileostomy is necessary for certain disorders, and it will be reversed after the primary surgery heals.
Some conditions necessitate long-term ileostomies, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Temporary ileostomies may be required after surgeries for familial adenomatous polyposis surgery, colorectal cancer, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, and Crohn’s disease, to name a few.
Matthew Perry endured 14 surgeries and had to wear a colostomy bag for nine months
Matthew Perry had a lengthy history of drug and alcohol misuse.
After his colon ruptured in 2018, Perry was left with a colostomy bag for nine months and spent weeks at a time in a coma.
The actor began his new memoir, 'Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing', with a terrifying account of his hospitalization five months after his colon burst because of a drug-related incident.
He underwent colostomy surgery to alter the path of the waste coming from his intestines while he was in a coma and on life support for two weeks out of his five-month hospital stay, as per Yahoo Entertainment.
Perry has stated in the past that the fact he has a colostomy bag prevents him from doing drugs because the idea of getting one again would be extremely painful for him.
Perry was fitted with an ileostomy bag as a temporary substitute after an unsuccessful attempt to remove his colostomy bag.
In an interview, the actor noted that the encounter with the substitute was "ten times worse," as he had to "deal with an ileostomy bag 18, 19 times a day."
Perry even stated how people often resort to suicide because of ileostomy bags as they just "can't take it" anymore.
Later, the actor said, "I've lived without it now for a long time and I'm very grateful," about being able to live without needing to use the ileostomy bags.
In his memoir, Perry wrote, "The first time I took my shirt off in my bathroom after returning from the hospital after my first surgery I burst into tears. I was so disturbed by it. I thought my life was over. After about half an hour I got my s**t together enough to call my drug dealer," recounting his recurrent problems with addiction.
This led to another stay at the rehab and had to go through surgery yet again which almost cost his life as his heart stopped for about five minutes.
