Which disease/medical condition brought you (or someone you love) to have/consider surgery?

UC, but dysplasia found at my last colonoscopy, made the ultimate decision for my parents (me being 10 years of age).

I'd say UC with dysplasia counts as UC on the poll .... even if the dysplasia was the last straw, it was being monitored for Uc that caused people to find out about the dysplasia...... it's hard to write a survey, that's for sure.... something to keep in mind when you read survey results (says the math teacher who occasionally teaches statistics)!

     "Moderate" proctitis.  Coulda fooled me with that moderate..lol.  After surgery, my surgeon said my rectum was "badly" diseased.  This went on for twelve years before MY decision to have the surgery.  My GI just wanted to keep on trying different meds...6MP, Remicade and Humira all failed..don't know what else he expected me to do.  Never regretted my decision and NEVER am I going back to that GI.

WonderTurd said...
...I don't care if I poop in a bag forever. I'm only four months out but so glad I made that decision!

I really wish that I could feel the same way.

While I only had a temporary colostomy for 2 months, I miss it sometimes. Why? My life has never been the same since it was reversed 12 years ago. Our family's medical insurance is lacking, very high copays and individual deductibles. They cover virtually nothing. That said, if we had great insurance similar to what we had 12 years ago or if we won the lotto tomorrow, I think I'd explore more surgical options - I am existing w/o my sigmoid (have only 10% left), 15 inches above that point in the GI tract. My doctors have said I could in theory have 3 options - a J Pouch, a regular colostomy and the most ideal situation they claim is an inverted colostomy (that you'd irrigate for 1 hour, every 24 hours, ideally being output free for 23 hours a day). They claimed at the time this is the wave of the future - ostomies you irrigate (because I have most of my colon intact). However I haven't read first hand accts. of this online just yet.

They also told me that had my rectal cancer been diagnosed decades before it was, I would have had a permanent colostomy, end of discussion. At the time they thought how unique and beneficial it was to hook me back together. Sure I can use any bathroom anywhere, w/o the smell of ostomy output, etc. but I go 20 times a day! Sigh......

Crohns disease. Been battling it since I was 11 (now 27) and it was just up and down up and down. Medicines would work for a few months and then I would get immune to them. I was on 60mg of prednisone and was doing humira and it stopped working. I basically tried every class of drugs out there and nothing worked. I even tried some experimental drugs that weren't even out yet. Didn't work. Said enough is enough and just had all the diseased part removed.

Irreversible injury of colon and rectum during a GYN surgery. Permanent Ileostomy. Rosemary

Mine was Crohn's Colitis.  I had stricturing in my colon and my rectum with possible dysplasia in my cecum.  My GI was stretching the rectum to compact the stricture which led to me having fecal incontinence.  He would have still rathered I try Remicade, but I refused and opted for surgery.  My NEW GI said she would have made the same decision I made.  No regrets, whatsoever.