You should post on the Ostomy board: the people with ostomies tend to post on there rather than here. But as it so happens, I have a bag, so I'll put in my tuppence here. Given your husband's situation, I don't think he has much alternative at this stage
but to have surgery, regardless of the pros and cons of having a bag. His situation sounds a bit similar to mine. I had severe Crohn's colitis (as well as a stricture at the terminal ileum) and was resistant to all the meds, including Remicade and Humira. I also was on 30-40mg Pred for a few months. Basically, since 2011 I had been hospitalised several times with severe flare-ups, with Pred fixing me up only temporarily. In Feb this year, I was sick, tired and scared of being steroid-dependent, so I had a colectomy with an end ileostomy.
In my case, the ileostomy is permanent 'cos I have Crohn's and cannot have a j-pouch. If your husband definitely has UC (in 10% of UCers, there is doubt over the diagnosis: it could be UC or Crohn's) and has never had small-bowel disease, then he will be a suitable candidate for having a j-pouch. If you don't already know, a j-pouch is an artificial 'rectum' constructed out of the end of the small intestine. People who have a j-pouch have to have a bag for a few months, but then the ileostomy (usually a temporary 'loop' ileostomy) is reversed - it usually takes 2 to 3 operations to construct a j-pouch.
From what I have gathered, a loop ileostomy is trickier to deal with than an end ileostomy. (Google will explain the differences between them.) However, I have only had an end ileostomy so I don't know.
Pros: UC is gone; you are no longer chained to a toilet; you have control of when you empty the bag;
might feel like a new person (I didn't, but many people report feeling infinitely better after surgery. Can't honestly say I did, though.)
Cons: You have a bag, which is a bit crap; bag can leak; learning a whole new lingo (flange? wafer? 2-piece system? Convex/flat? What?); possible surgical complications
I was lucky with leakages. They are not an issue with me, but some new ostomates can suffer from leakages until they find a pouching system which works for them. There can be other teething problems, such as the newly-formed stoma shrinking or changing shape for a while after surgery. But in general, once you learn how to deal with a stoma and live with a bag, it's not disruptive to daily life at all.
Best of luck.
Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 4/14/2013 12:52:34 PM (GMT-6)