Well, I had my appt. with my surgeon today to go over the results of all the tests I had last week. The good news was that he saw no sign of Barretts in my esophagus...that could be because he didn't biopsy the exact
location of it, but also, taking Protonix every day may be helping. THAT was the good news.
The colonoscopy showed darkening of the colon in several spots, most likely from taking laxatives over the years. The sitz marker test showed all markers in my large intestine, in fact he laughed because the radiologist counted 138, and there should only be 124! Anyway, none made it to my rectum, but all were out of my small intestine, which is a good thing. I had taken this test about 10 months ago, and he laughed that maybe some were still there from last March!
He said he feels like I've exhausted every other option, and had every test several times, and that surgery is most likely in my future, whether I do it now or later. He said that the one thing he always tells his patients is that when your digestive system isn't working like mine, you know there are serious problems with the large intestine. The fact that we can't poop is a strong indication that something's not working! However, after the large intestine is out, there may be other problems with the small intestine, stomach, gall bladder, etc. He said that the large intestine problems sometimes overshadow other problems and you don't know about them until the big problem is gone. He said side effects such as nausea and diarrhea are the two most common issues, but they are much easier to treat than constipation.
He asked me how uncomfortable I am, and if the constipation affects my life. To be honest, I don't have the vomiting and pain alot of you have, but after 3 or 4 days, I feel pretty lousy until I take the senokot to clean myself out. It definitely affects my lifestyle; I have to "plan" an evening every few nights to poop. If we go on vacation, I'm stuck in a hotel for entire afternoons and evenings. Alot of times if I'm not in my own environment, the senokot doesn't work well and I'm miserable for a couple of days, and then a couple days of a vacation are shot. If I just lived day to day with no outside life, I'd be ok. But I'm pretty active and have lots of interests, including a new little granddaughter that I try to spend lots of time with. My husband and I like to travel, and I also work 20 hours a week, so staying home all the time isn't an option.
He said if I wanted to get another opinion, to feel free to; he recommends it. I told him he was my 3rd opinion over the last 20 years, so I feel like it's time to do it.
When I asked what the worst complications were his reply was "death". Wow, that was not what I wanted to hear!! He said he has to be honest that it's a very major surgery and when you're under anesthesia for that long, that is always a possibility. He said he's never lost a patient, and I asked him to please knock on wood!!
Then he went on to say that honestly, I'm in good health aside from the digestive issues, and he feels it would be successful, although he stressed it is a major surgery. The average hospital stay is about a week, but he said he has a patient right now who he did surgery on a week ago, and her bowels haven't woken up yet, so she's still in the hospital. With all the narcotics, that's not that unusual.
He said he doesn't leave any of the large intestine; that used to be something they did regularly, but studies have shown that the surgery isn't nearly as successful with a subtotal colectomy. He'll do it laproscopically and it usually takes about 5 hours, if everything goes well. I asked about blockages, and he said you just never know, but that is a possibility.
My husband really likes this dr. and I was liking him alot better until he said the word "death" 
. I know that's always a possibility but wow, it just hit me. I started thinking about being around to see my little granddaughter grow up and it honestly scares me so much.
He also said that there are complications that he's afraid will get worse over time if I don't have surgery....and that's why he said I'll eventually need it. He said blockages are a issue (I had one a year ago, which made me really start pursuing this, because I don't want another one!). He also said that perforation of the colon is a possiblity, and that's not a good thing either. The laxatives certainly don't work like they did years ago, and I've had to gradually take more and more to have a bm....he thinks eventually they may stop working completely.
So that's it. I am going to plan the surgery for mid March. We're going on a cruise in February and my stepson and his wife and little boy are coming down the first week of March to do a Disney vacation....so I'm waiting for that.
I have an appt. with my GI here in my area (the surgeon is an hour away) to see what he thinks. He really didn't think it was a good idea last time I talked to him, but I told him that if you've never gone through life without having a BM on your own, you have no idea what it's like.
I just wonder though....after surgery and you are released from the surgeon, does the GI follow you if you have problems? I didn't ask my doctor that today.
Sorry this is so long. I'm so tired and really don't want to think about it. My son and his wife and my grandbaby are coming down (they live 45 minutes away) for the weekend, and I'm just going to enjoy them and think about all this later!
Thanks for listening....if anyone has any questions I should ask my Dr., please let me know. He said if I want to come back and talk again before surgery, he recommends it. He wants me to be sure I'm ready for this!
Janie