Much different. The biggest difference is that diarrhea is a non-issue for me with my ostomy, I may still have it, but I'm not confined to my home. A flare doesn't have to limit my quality of life except for the pain issues, and I didn't have much pain until the last couple months.
Of course another issue is I don't have any more is perianal, rectovaginal, and pelvic floor fistulas. I have had a couple abdominal fistulas this time around, but they are MUCH easier to deal with and also don't interfere with my life as much.
I'm so glad I had it done. My new surgeon asked me if I ever thought about
being reattached and I almost had a panic attack thinking about
it, lol. I wouldn't go back now unless they could grow me an entirely new, "whole" set of intestines.
Joint pain issues aren't always a precursor to abdominal issues either. On the whole, I've found that every flare I've had has been a little different than the others, so there's no "sure fire way" unless and until you get the pain, nausea,.... you know the same old stuff.
If you know for sure that you SED rate or ANA's are elevated during a flare, you could check those I guess, but for me, I consider myself in remission until or unless I have pain.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------