Living Colostomy bag?? feedback pleaseee...

Well my dr seems to think that if i go ahead with a colostomy bag at least for 6 months to a year... it will greatly help with the healing of my fistulas... is this true??? anyone have experience with this surgery....this is kind of urgent, last week an MRI found a abcess on my prostate so i think they need to go in and see whats going on....

few questions... how is life with the colostomy bag? is it easier or harder then living with so many bowel movements a day? This is a hard decision for me to make, im only 24 and i know people have gotten surgery like this done at this age... sad to say i know they never got switched back...10..20...30 years later, still with the bag... i just want some feedback of living with the bag... thanks everyone!!

I never had a bag.

But my ex boyfriend had one. It was before I got CD he also had CD.
He felt so much better when he had the bag he could eat everything and was much happier in his tummy, but it bothered him having it. He was very shy about having one and was always afraid it was leaking.

It never bothered me though and I liked him as much with or with out the bag.

Hello!
I just had surgery last week to get rid of my awful colon and now I've got a permanent ileo. They tried to talk to me about a j-pouch option but I didn't even consider it. I'm done with diarrhea. Done. I'm obviously really new to this but I already love the freedom of being able to LIVE without living in the bathroom or wondering where a bathroom is, and I can actually eat food, which is amazing (and something you should be ABLE TO DO). It's really an individual decision, but to me...if you're going more than like 5 times a day and feeling crappy and still watching what you eat, it's worth consideration for sure.

I've gone back and forth for years. I've rejected pretty much all Crohn's meds except steroids, which keep me out of the hospital. Monday I had a break-down and thought, my daughter is going to be out of town with her dad next week. I should call my surgeon and just *have it done* and then *not* have to worry about a bathroom - and let the fistula heal... (I'd do temp) But of course, unless it's an emergency, spontaneous surgery didn't seem appropriate. Besides, then I get scared and just keep on the way I am. But this morning I was shaking from the pain and I get so very tired of that.

You are not alone in considering one. It seems that a lot of people who go ahead end up wishing they'd done it sooner. Sometimes I feel like refusing surgery (and the ostomy) is essentially keeping me a prisoner. As 80sChick says, it provides freedom. I know it has its downfalls (leaks, skin irritation, etc) but leaking through a fistula can't be better than having a bag. I just can't get the courage myself. I know it's the "right" and "smart" thing to do. I just get scared.

Good luck!

OHIO that was good to read. I've just found out my disease has move to my upper colon so the possibility of a bag is now a little more real.

Please do keep us in the know about whats going on with you n
what the doc says
lyn