Been told I need surgery, would you agree to this?

Well luckily my docs is about a 2 min walk from my house, and the chemist is attached to the doctors surgery so it's pretty handy for me. Hence me not wanting to change my doctors lol. Would be so much more hassle for me if it was further away. I managed to get him to give me 56 cartons today as well, so that's better for me.

I've been tired all day today as well, not slept though which I think I should probably have a sleep in the day sometime but I never seem to get round to it.

Hi Roni, I tried the SCD diet a while ago when I was flaring, about 6 years ago now, but found it hard to stick to because I don't drive so it was difficult to get the ingredients like nut flour to bake or other stuff, the local shops made it quite expensive, so would have been cheaper for me to go the bigger supermarkets but like I say was hard for me to get to without relying on other people for lifts. Can't actually remember if it helped or not, or even how long I tried it for. I did all the chicken soup and home made yogurt thing. Think I more or less lived on them for a while. Used to strain the yogurt and put honey in it. Got bored of it eventually though. I know I could do the SCD diet though if I put my mind to it because I like all the stuff on it, and could probably do without all the baked stuff cause I love chicken and carrots and quite a few other veggies on it. I have the book and was thinking of trying it again when I stop this elemental diet, of which I am having a few days break from but I'm still having the cartons, but I've been eating abit as well to try and get my weight up, cause I figured if I did have to go in for surgery I'd never get through it cause I'm so underweight. I know it's probably not the best to have a few days off it but I'm not eating much and already my weight has gone up 5 pounds. It's so hard to stick to anyway and they're not giving me enough cals on it either I don't think.

I need to look into the Makers diet, I keep meaning to but haven't got round to it, I'll have a quick look now and see what I can find. Thanks. Any idea which diet has had the most success?

My husband has had Crohn's disease for over 30 years (the same year we got married) and had to have an illeostomy 19 years ago.  We knew that once he had the first surgery that it was only the beginning.  He has had 6 additional surgeries over the past 19 years, his most recent was this past February.  It hasn't been easy for him - he has tried all the new drugs but the Crohn's keeps coming back.  He started on Humira about a year ago and gives himself a shot every 10 days.  This is the first drug that has kept the disease in remission.  He has no active disease at this time, his problems this past year were due to strictures and suffering from blockages.  It does take time to adjust to having a bag and I know it isn't easy, he gets very frustrated sometimes, but for him it was either the surgery or probably dying because of complications.  He played hockey after getting the illeostomy, he goes swimming, fishing, does everything he used to.  Having surgery is a personal decision that you have to make.  My husband almost backed out of the his first surgery the night before, but our daughter, who was was 6 at the time, started reading to him, and he said he wanted to be around to see our kids grow up.  And he didn't want to go through with this past surgery either because it gets harder and harder, but again he said he wanted to walk her down the aisle when the time comes.  So no one can make up your mind for you.  Having a bag doesn't make you a different person - you will still be the same person on the inside unless you let it get to you and let it change your life.  I help my husband change his appliance because we can change it in about 5 - 10 minutes.  He used to get about 7 days wear time until a year ago when he started having skin irritations, they couldn't figure out if he was allergic to the appliance he was using or his skin just breaking down from the disease.  He now has to change usually every 2 - 3 days.  He would like to get his skin irritation under control but we can't find anything that works yet.  Good luck with your decision on whether or not you are going to go through the surgery.

My husband used to have a lot of mucus prior to the illeostomy.  He was told to stay away from milk and dairy products and it seemed to help a little bit.  His crohns started in his stomach, then moved to the large intestine and that is when they knew it wasn't just a stomach ulcer.  His regular doctor wanted him to have surgery right away and that is when he started seeing a GI specialist who told him they would treat it with meds as long as they could.  His first surgery was in 1987 for a fistula and we knew that was the just the start of more surgeries and then in 1989 he was so sick that he was in the hospital for a week before they could even do the surgery.  Actually his colonoscopy showed his large intestine wasn't that bad and when they opened him it was so thin and adhered to everything that his surgery took over 7 hours instead of the 3 1/2 they told me.  After they removed his large it shifted to his small intestine.  After every surgery he tells me he isn't going through it again and I don't blame him.  He also lives on tramadol to help with the pain and the fatigue.  Our two children (25 and 23) both have intestinal problems but so far they haven't been diagnosed with crohns.  He has 3 sisters who have intestinal/stomach problems and he lost his older brother to colon cancer.  I also have a niece (my brothers daughter) who was diagnosed 9 years ago with crohns.  This is a terrible disease that they still do not know a lot about.  I think you are making the right decision at least from what we have experienced - you know your body better than the doctors.  Good luck and try to stay positive.  Good Luck.

WImom, my mother had Ulcerative colitis as well, she managed to control it by diet though eventually when she found out what affected her. I don't know of any other family members having anything though, but then I don't really know any of my extended family. I avoid dairy as much as I can, but I do like milk and cheese, so it's hard to cut them out without feeling deprived really, but I manage to most of the time.

Thanks for the links Erica, I'll have a look at them.