Collectomy

@beatUC-

Well excuse me but us "surgery folks" would like to help people who are thinking about having surgery and get rid of all the mis-information out there. I suffered horribly with UC just like everyone else here and if I can offer someone some advice and info on surgery, I am more than happy to do so. You are obviously a very close-minded person.

beatUC said...
if you are "cured" of your UC , why are you still on this forum?
I thought this forum was for people like me who are still dealing with my disease, not the one's who have been cured.
Isn't there other forums, for you surgery folks?
Seems youre only here to shout down common sense and debunk huge population studies..

I used to be on this forum and was very happy to see those that had surgery come back and share their experiences. You are dwelling on numbers too much. Here are some interesting figures that you can dwell on:

Being struck by lightning -- 1 in 10,456 (lifetime)
* Being Murdered -- 1 in 140 (lifetime)
* Having your car Stolen -- 1 in 159 (annual risk)
* Getting married -- 3 in 4 (life time risk)
* Seriously injuring yourself while shaving -- 1 in 5,844 (annual risk)
* Dying in an auto accident -- 1 in 75 (lifetime risk)
* Going to prison this year -- 1 in 139
* Getting brest implants -- 1 in 65
* Dying from heart disease -- 1 in 6 (lifetime risk)
* Going to Disney world this year -- 1 in 9
* Eating at McDonalds today -- 1 in 12
* Getting fat -- 1 in 4 (lifetime risk)
* Being injured by your toilet bowl cleaner -- 1 in 173,972 (annual risk)
* Hiring a sleazy lawyer -- 1 in 8
* Dying from falling out out of your bed or chair -- 1 in 513,142
* Developing a mental disorder this year -- 1 in 4
* Being stuck and killed by a falling aircraft -- 1 in 25 million
* Getting food poisoning -- 1 in 8 (annual risk)
* Freezing to death -- 1 in 780,938 (annual risk)
* Committing suicide -- 1 in 71 (lifetime risk)

Relax yourself, alright. I do hope that you find some solace and relief from this crapty disease. I know you are not on an easy road. Nobody with this is. The people that had the surgery are just letting everyone know: "Hey, you know what, it helped me." You know what? It helped me.

Now I am looking forward to my 1 in 12 chances of eating McDonalds ;)

Wow. So sad to see people just attacking someone.

Plain and simple. Surgery Saved my life. I'll never look back, and I am HAPPY for where I am now. I had more complications to even type...and it sucked a lot..but today I am happy healthy. MEDICATION free. I do what I want when I want.

Is this a "cure"? HELL no. but it was better than living in an ER and being on more meds than I could count.

Its your decision to make. Do you research. ASK QUESTIONS. Us "surgery folk" know far more about these surgeries than most of our own doctors. We are a wealth of knowledge use us....regardless of what freakin forum we are in.

Why do you people need to "fight" over this? I think this is a highly personal decision and NO ONE but the person suffering can make it. That said, our daughter is counting down the days until she has surgery. She is only 13 but she has had enough - enough of the drugs, enough of the hospital visits, enough of not being able to go to school, enough of being fat from taking prednisone.....I could go on for about an hour with all of the ways UC has ruined her life. It scares me to think of the damage the Prednisone, 6 MP, Methotrexate and Remicade have done to her body.Surgery is not to be taken lightly...I think we all have different thresholds of what we can and cannot handle. Of course I am scared out of my mind for her to have surgery - but if it can give her her life back, we need to give her that opportunity. SHE knows a lot about the surgery and we would never be doing this if she did not agree to it.

I have a 1 in 9 chance of going to Disney World this year? That's awesome!

Back on topic, I'm also grateful for all of you who've been-there-done-that who stick around to give support.

ThePostmodernIrony said...
I'm considering surgery right now. My doctor told me that people who are moderately healthy have better luck with surgery instead of waiting to have it when you are hospitalized. Makes sense to me. This is the same doctor who 4 years ago told me to treat my UC with meds and that it wasnt time for surgery, when I was asking. I'm not awful, but I wish for a better life but understand the risks involved. It's a hard decision and I still don't know for sure but the idea of having the quality of life I have right now, never to rarely feeling 'good' despite living in a way I survive, is hard to think about dealing with. Although I know I can survive, I'm not sold that this is where I should be.

This is the exact same boat I'm in. I wouldn't say I have a horrible quality of life but I often have days where I wish for a better quality of life due to urgency or other issues. That's what makes it so difficult because it's not a "I definitely need this or I will die" kind of decision, but rather "will surgery give me a better quality of life than I currently have, which is one where I just get by...". I find myself not hanging out with friends as much out of the house just cause my stomach's usually upset, but it's not all the time. I'm so used to hanging home and never eating out with friends that it really does feel "normal". But Then I have long periods throughout the day where I feel fine and don't really have any pain or issues. It's confusing and hard to figure out where to go from here.

That is what is great about HW. The three of us seem to be in the same boat. I agree that if my colon did not look like an open wound, I would say surgery is crazy. I have never had remission for 5 years - yes I have learned how to take care of myself and make life with UC tolerable, but if someone had an open wound like that outside their body, they would not wait 5 years to have it fixed. I have never healed and it is kind of disturbing so that's why I can agree with you guys. It's a very hard decision to make, but I am at the point where I feel like I have tried so much and yet no healing is taking place in there.

I know, ByeByeUC- but that's what makes it SO hard of a decision! Sure, we could go on the way we do for a long, long time. But... do we want too? I think you just reach a point where you know, deep down, that something has got to give. That in reality, surgery is your best choice at the moment. When I had surgery originally schedule 3 years ago, I just was not mentally ready- it took me 3 more years of living with daily symptoms to come around. Everyone tells me it's far better to go into surgery healthy, & to be able to have the luxury of choosing a surgeon, the timing of your surgery, etc. The open wound analogy is great, it's so apt. The best thing I can say about my condition right now is that I haven't had to take steroids in a couple years. Wow, big deal. I'm simply tired of it, tired of the planning, thinking, hoping. Am ready to try something new, & hey, it's not what I envisioned, but what ever is??? If I can have just 1 day where I don't worry about hopping in the car to go somewhere, or about a bathroom line...

Eva Lou-
You are right, you know deep down inside when you are ready. That's how it happened for me. I was really angry and just so fed up, I couldn't take it another day. Best wishes in whatever path you take.