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Does surgery really cure UC !!!

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/11/2009 7:38 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Judy and PSA.Delhi,

Thanks for your replies to my post. I really appreciate it.  Sorry for the late reply. I was contemplating surgery for my UC problem last year but the doctor advised me against it since it can have complications later on and there is not a 100% guarantee that it will cure UC. These days my life is "almost" normal except i do get flareups when i screw up and eat something accidentally like spices or diary food that i shouldnt be eating thinking that it shouldnt cause much damage and i suffer the consequences that are pretty nasty and painful like bad stomach cramps and multiple bowel movements and it subsides within a couple of hours though i dont see blood or much diarrhea in my stools due to my herbal ayurvedic medication that shows my colon is improving slowly. Also i have gained all my weight and energy back that i lost back in 2006 in the initial stages when the disease was at its peakin Dec 2006. Also i workout and run regularly and keep myself toned and fit which helps a lot too.

PSA.Delhi, thanks for your ideas. I sure will try pumpkin juice and how or in what form do i use turmeric to treat my colon better?

Also i was wondering if according to y'all's experience/knowledge, surgery for UC will really cure my problem so i dont have to even worry about the once-in-a-while flareups that i experience now and i can be completely free of the disease and live and eat anything like anybody else like my life before the disease happened to me ? What are the chances that there might be complications after surgery and what sorts of complications and are they fatal ? Please let me know. Your thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

StallionUnleashed79

Diagnosed with UC - Dec '06.

Tried asacol (worked initially but stopped later), tried Chiropractics (didnt work),

Finally tried Herbal Ayurvedic medicine (worked magically) and currently in Remission for the most part with my weight and energy back to normal.

Posted 2/11/2009 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
I had jpouch surgery almost 8 years ago. I am cured. I do not have UC nor do I take any medications RX or OTC. I eat whatever I want and primarily live off a diet of fresh fruit because I love fresh fruit. But I have not found any foods that I cannot eat because of surgery. I eat copious amounts of popcorn, nuts, and fiberous foods. I am very active and enjoy international long distance hikes in the neighborhood of 100-200 miles. I hike in the Sierras, 80 miles at a time with elevation gains and losses of 28,000 ft. I camp, I backpack, I ride my bike. I work out at the gym 5-6 days per week. I do more now then I did with UC because I am healthy. Surgery is not perfect but the tradeoffs for me beat the unpredictability of the disease and the taking of medication.

Have you tried all the available medications for surgery? Your signature line doesn't look like you have traveled down the usual road for remission.

If you are considering surgery I would recommend you research all your options; j or k pouch, or permanent ostomy. Weigh your lifestyle against each surgery choice. Make a list of pros and cons. Talk with people that have had each type of surgery. Find the best CR surgeon you can if you choose the j or k pouch option. Interview patients of your surgeon who are in your age group. Realize that any surgery choice will come with about a year of recovery and adaptation. That's not a year spent at home, I went back to work 3 weeks after surgery but I found that it took about a full year for my new plumbing to act more like a colon.

Sue
Posted 2/11/2009 10:09 PM (GMT 0)
     It cures UC because..no colon.  I did see a GI surgeon who isn't too keen on removing colons though.  With that could come a multitude of complications is what he relayed to me.  So keep your colon as long as you can.
Posted 2/11/2009 11:32 PM (GMT 0)
It may cure UC, but if it ends up you had chrohns...it doesn't cure that because it can affect your small intestine or even on up from there.
Posted 2/12/2009 2:45 AM (GMT 0)
I also have thought about this during flare ups. Can surgery "really" cure me? I'm fructose intolerant, which really is a liver and small intestines issue, not a colon issue. Eating foods and drinking beverages high in fructose bothers my digestion. The fact that my colon gets inflamed is a result of both my poor digestion of fructose and the imbalance of fecal floral due to having taken antibiotics. Getting my colon taking out will "cure" my Colitis, because I won't have a colon to flare; however, it won't help my liver and small intestines to digest fructose.

Perhaps, after getting my colon taken out, the end of my small intestine will start to flare, and the GI will end up saying, you really had Chrohn's Disease all along.
Posted 2/12/2009 3:59 AM (GMT 0)
Ulcerative colitis is a specific inflammatory disease. Removing the colon cure it in the same way, say, amputating a leg would cure gangrene of the foot. Similarly, you're not just like you were before you got sick after surgery, but most people are much better than they were before surgery.

The number of people who are discovered to really have Crohn's disease after colonectomy is small. And food intolerances are separate from UC, so surgery won't cure them. But again, if the symptoms of a food intolerance are manifested only in the colon, removing the colon may end the symptoms.
Posted 2/12/2009 6:34 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Stallion

First of all thanks for your kind words. Well in so far as turmeric is concerned, if you can grow turmeric in your kitchen garden (even in a flower pot), it would be better. It is like fresh ginger. Otherwise, it is available in some stores selling vegetables as the same is used by south Indians all over world in cooking. After cleaning and removing the outer skin on you cut it into small pieces. If you want to preserve it for sometime, you may keep it in vinegar or else straightaway eat it empty stomach. If you can, then it should be the first thing you have in the morning, before you even have your bed tea. It would create an antiseptic lining/insulation on your entire digestive tract, including the small intestine and colon and thus prevent the bile juices from reacting with polyps or ulcers. Even the bleeding ulcers would get cured with the antiseptic turmeric and would not react to rough food intakes during the day. It would also reduce the pain on left side of your abdomin which you generally have with your UC besides controlling the acidity. It is a very good healer. The turmeric put in vinegar would taste like a ginger pickle. You can have turmeric any number of times during the day. Initially for a day or two you may not like the taste, but after that you would get used to. What's the harm - if it has no side effects and cures or at least controls the UC. Cheers.

You may also consider food sensitivity tests which our esteemed member Peety had and has controlled flare ups. I agree with her view that surgery may not cure a person who is suffering from Crohns' as the same affects the small intestine too.

Posted 2/12/2009 6:37 AM (GMT 0)
Stallion another very important aspect. Please ensure that the ayurvedic preparation which you are having is not coated/camouflage of steroids. It reminds me of one ayurvedic healer whom I had consulted. Later on I found hundreds of bottles of steroids and other allopathic medicines in the dumping well behind his room. So be careful.

Posted 2/12/2009 8:39 AM (GMT 0)
Any surgery can have complications. I had a total colectomy and had complications. (read signature).
BUT I'd have the surgery all over again if i had to, i feel that good. Most people don't have complications-I'm talking about for an ileosotomy-not the j-pouch. J-pouch can have more-which is why i'm not sure i'm going to get one.

A total colectomy Will cure ulcerative colitis, but you can still have extra-intestinal symptoms. I have not had any more since surgery and I had a bunch b4 (arthritis, e-nodes, geographic tongue, episcleritis (eye) )But I've been informed there is a Possibility they'll come back. So we'll see.

I have been lactose intolerant since I was a kid. I haven't been able to eat ice cream, cream cheese, any real dairy without pain and diarrhea for YEARS.
I now eat it on a regular basis without problems. I do still get a bit gassy, but it's not painful!

Unfortunately, we can't predict everything. You won't know specifically how your body will respond to anything until you try it. Whether or not you are ready for it depends on your disease severity and your quality of life. And a lot of it is YOUR opinion. It's good that you are trying to become informed. I did a ton of research for years b4 I had surgery.
A couple of other places for you - the ostomy forum on this site and www.j-pouch.org
Posted 2/12/2009 2:08 PM (GMT 0)
My Dad had the J-pouch surgery when he was 38. He is now 54, and his UC came back when he was 53. So, it's true it can come back with that kind of surgery.
Posted 2/12/2009 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
UC does not come back after the surgery. What your father probably has is cuffitis, inflammation of the rectal cuff which is the only tissue remaining after removal of the rectum. He probably did not have his rectal cuffed stripped, many of us had this additional procedure. I had severe rectal disease so I had a mucosectomy which strips the diseased tissue and lessens the chance that I would ever get cuffitis. However, those that do get cuffitis find that it can easily be treated first with rectal meds and then taking 5ASAs.

Sue
Posted 2/12/2009 5:14 PM (GMT 0)
There is a real chance I'd be one of the few who get Crohn's after a colonectomy. I have issues with inflammation. I have had such bad skin inflammations that doctors have said they never saw anything like it before. Hence, my having had to be on antibiotics for so many years. Now if I get a cut, it gets inflamed. Since the small colon would be closer to the outside (my as* h*le), there's a chance it would start to get inflamed too, especially since I have other digestive issues.
Posted 2/12/2009 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
Note that UC does not "turn into" CD or vise versa, when patients that are DX with UC have their colons removed and they find out later that they have CD then they likely had CD to begin with and were misDX with having UC because with CD when you have surgery (resections or removal of colon) then CD will relocate itself because with CD it can affect any part of the GI tract where as UC is limited to the colon/rectom area only.

:)
Posted 2/12/2009 9:34 PM (GMT 0)

pb4 said...
Note that UC does not "turn into" CD or vise versa, when patients that are DX with UC have their colons removed and they find out later that they have CD then they likely had CD to begin with and were misDX with having UC because with CD when you have surgery (resections or removal of colon) then CD will relocate itself because with CD it can affect any part of the GI tract where as UC is limited to the colon/rectom area only.

:)

Ah. That's what the doctors say. But how do you know they were really misdiagnosed?
Posted 2/17/2009 6:01 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Subdued, Sweetie, Chasblah, Christine, PSA.Delhi and others,

Thanks a lot for your opinions and experiences on surgery (J-Pouch/Illeostomy) and the chances that it might cure my UC. Like i said before i take herbal ayurvedic medicine right now (2 pills of 2 types of medicines (Ulcerin Compound 1 & Ulcerin Compound 2 )) each + Colostrum tables for GI Tract building and they have gone a long way in driving my UC to remission and controlling the symptoms that i had when it started 2 years back and also improved my digestion a whole lot more and given me my weight and energy back and moreover they are all natural without chemicals and have no side effects. From all the answers that were posted by y'all, it looks like i shouldnt be considering surgery right now (J-Pouch or Illeostomy) since my UC is only in the mild stage and should stay away from it as much as possible unless it gets to a stage where i have no other choice and its pretty bad. I am getting my colonoscopy done in March 2009 and i will have a much better idea of the condition of my UC after its done when i see the report and i will keep y'all posted on that but for now i am going to continue my herbal medication unless advised otherwise by my herbal doctor.

PSA.Delhi, as far as taking turmeric for healing my colon is concerned, is there any specific way in which i can take the turmeric? I take almond milk in the morning instead of milk since i have lactose intolerance too, so should i just mix the turmeric with almond milk and warm it up? Let me know. The herbal doctor whom i am consulting now lives in New Delhi (India) and his name is Harish Verma and the link for his website is pasted here :- http://ulcerativecolitiscure.com/treatment.html. He seems to be pretty good in treating my condition naturally and i have had absolutely no side effects from his medicine and his medicine has worked like magic for me and is pretty effective. Also i didnt have to take any other western medicine like asacol, Prednisone, Colazal, Remicade or any steroids etc which is great and just his 4 herbal pills a day after meals has got my life kicking back again to almost normal !!!

Thanks again for your comments/experiences and i truly appreciate it. It has been nice getting to know y'all !! Please let me know if y'all need any opinions/suggestions on anything from my side and i will be glad to help out.  Have a great day.

StallionUnleashed79

Diagnosed with UC - Dec '06.

Tried asacol (worked initially but stopped later), tried Chiropractics (didnt work),

Finally tried Herbal Ayurvedic medicine (worked magically) and currently in Remission for the most part with my weight and energy back to normal.

Posted 2/17/2009 7:06 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Stallion

I have posted a lot of information on Turmeric under the head "haldi", I suppose. Are you in the US or India. In the US there are lots of Indian grocerry stores where you can get fresh ground turmeric. You may remove the peel and cut it into small pieces. Have it the first thing in the morning, empty stomach. There is no harm in boiling it in almond milk. Infact mostly in India for anykind of pain, ulceration, digestive system infection, sprained ankles, etc. Turmeric powder is boiled in milk and given to the person. I would suggest you find my postings on turmeric. I too would copy paste the same to you. Take care and cheers. Well Dr. Harish Verma is a good naturopath and I have utmost regard for him. I suppose my sister did visit him for her UC. The ayurvedic preparations are really good for some patients to treat UC. Prednisolone should be strict nono

PSA.Delhi, as far as taking turmeric for healing my colon is concerned, is there any specific way in which i can take the turmeric? I take almond milk in the morning instead of milk since i have lactose intolerance too, so should i just mix the turmeric with almond milk and warm it up? Let me know. The herbal doctor whom i am consulting now lives in New Delhi (India) and his name is Harish Verma and the link for his website is pasted here :- http://ulcerativecolitiscure.com/treatment.html. He seems to be pretty good in treating my condition naturally and i have had absolutely no side effects from his medicine and his medicine has worked like magic for me and is pretty effective. Also i didnt have to take any other western medicine like asacol, Prednisone, Colazal, Remicade or any steroids etc which is great and just his 4 herbal pills a day after meals has got my life kicking back again to almost normal !!!

Posted 2/17/2009 1:47 PM (GMT 0)

suebear said...
UC does not come back after the surgery. What your father probably has is cuffitis, inflammation of the rectal cuff which is the only tissue remaining after removal of the rectum. He probably did not have his rectal cuffed stripped, many of us had this additional procedure. I had severe rectal disease so I had a mucosectomy which strips the diseased tissue and lessens the chance that I would ever get cuffitis. However, those that do get cuffitis find that it can easily be treated first with rectal meds and then taking 5ASAs.

Sue

My dad has been to doctors, and the hospital, and they all have said it's flaring UC. He is on meds. He's on rectal and pills. That's all I can say.
Posted 2/17/2009 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like they removed his colon but not his rectom which can also be affected with UC.

:)
Posted 2/17/2009 7:48 PM (GMT 0)
No, the rectum is removed at surgery and the jpouch replaces the rectum. Everyone who opts for a jpouch has about an inch of remaining rectal tissue which is called the "cuff". Often times the cuff is stripped (called a mucosectomy) so no rectal cells are left. In this man's case his rectal cuff was not stripped and therefore he is prone to a condition called cuffitis, inflammation of the rectal cuff. It's easily treated but sometimes patients need to stay on 5ASAs to keep it at bay. I had the mucosectomy and therefore will not ever get cuffitis. This is one of those nagging things that prospective patients really need to know about so they can query their surgeon on the procedure.

Sue
Posted 2/17/2009 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
My dad still has his rectum though. They took his colon but not the rectum. So, that's where the colitis is right now. He has about 4 inches to 5 inches left of his colon.
Posted 2/17/2009 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hmm... If your dad still has his rectum then he doesn't have a jpouch. Do you know why they did not remove his entire colon and rectum when he had surgery? This is standard protocol now but maybe not back then.

Sue
Posted 2/18/2009 2:34 AM (GMT 0)
Don't ask me, all I know is he had his colon removed, and had the pouch for a while then a reconnect. I was a kid when this was done, I was in 5th grade. I only remember a little bit. It might have been the standard back then. He had it done in 1992. Although the Doctor is talking about removing the rest and giving him an ostomy bag which most likely won't happen.
Posted 2/18/2009 4:34 AM (GMT 0)
And that's exactly why now they remove the entire colon; if they leave the rectum or other part of the colon, the UC is very likely to come back. With the total colectomy and J-pouch it doesn't come back because there is no colon for it to reoccur in.
Posted 2/18/2009 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
Sweetie, maybe your dad has pouchitis, Pouchitis is inflammation of the ileal pouch, which is created in the management of patients with ulcerative colitis, indeterminate colitis, or, rarely, other colitides.

Patients with pouchitis typically present with bloody diarrhea, urgency in passing stools, or discomfort while passing stools. Rarely, pain can occur with pouchitis.

Endoscopy in patients with pouchitis usually reveals erythematous pouch mucosa, loss of pseudocolonic vaculature or other architecture, and friability of the mucosa. Biopsies show evidence of inflammatory cells or red blood cells in the lamina propria.

Pouchitis is usually treated with antibiotics, and specifically usually with ciprofloxacin and metronidazole. In refractory cases, probiotics such as VSL-3 and Bio-K+ may be useful.

:)
Posted 2/18/2009 4:46 AM (GMT 0)

subdued said...

pb4 said...
Note that UC does not "turn into" CD or vise versa, when patients that are DX with UC have their colons removed and they find out later that they have CD then they likely had CD to begin with and were misDX with having UC because with CD when you have surgery (resections or removal of colon) then CD will relocate itself because with CD it can affect any part of the GI tract where as UC is limited to the colon/rectom area only.

:)

Ah. That's what the doctors say. But how do you know they were really misdiagnosed?

Because that's the only thing that makes sense, UC doesn't "turn into" CD or vise versa, you either have one or the other unless you're the unlucky 2% that has both, but they still don't turn into one another, and that's what researchers have learned.  Quite obviously if a "UCer" goes in for surgery to have their colon and rectom removed and they end up discovering that the "UCer" has inflammation of the small intestines then it's a no brainer they were misDX or had/have both CD and UC.  Research it for yourself.

:)

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