I thought I was managing all UC stuff till???

Well, I thought I was managing all UC stuff this till I saw a new doctor - sort of a super-specialist in inflammatory bowel disease. She set me straight big time. Basically she told me that I have not responded at all to Prednisone, they are very doubtful aboout moving on to stronger stuff (6MP or Immuran - I think) because I have an old, calcified TB scar in my lung which might be acativated and cause TB- never new I had it till it turned up in an Xray. She also said that as an 80 year old with a history of lung cancer (successfully removed, stage 1 with no follow up chemo or radiation needed) I was a poor surgical risk and no surgeon would probably touch me. WOW!!!!!

I am tapering off of a month of 40 mg Pred and am now at 20 mg per day. I am totally wiped. I guess my adrenal glands were so suppressed that they are slow to recover from that awful Prednisone. My taper has now been slowed to 1/2 mg per week to give them a chance to catch up. I am still on 10 400mg Asacol tabs daily and steroid enemas twice a day. I'm in diapers and take Immodium enough to go out and try to deal with what's left of my life.

Before last December, I went to the gym twice a week, a water aquasize class twice a week, taught Tai Chi for many years. Now I am a mess, napping two or three times a day. So finally, here is my question!!! If I can get off the evil Pred, get some of my strength back (and I CAN) - what now??????? It seems to me that a colectomy is my best shot for regaining an active life. But I am scared. How bad is it??? How long does it take to recover??? Are any of you guys post- the big surgery?? Sounds like it would be the whole colon except the rectum..They can't get through my first bend cuz of "twisting and strictures and very large diverticuli" They also say that since I've had this for eight years (mostly in remission, that I am at high and ever increasing risk for developing colon cancer.

How long is recovery?? Is it like pouring battery acid on freshly cut skin??? Bet it is, but for how long. I need to hear from some people who have been through this.. If this is the wrong forum, could somebody tell me what is the right one. Sorry to go on and on. Thank you for any thoughts or wisdom. Saralee

After surgery pain wise was not bad for me. I recover very well from surgery and my incisions always heal well, even when I had some left open and had to pack them. They do a good job of controlling the pain in the hospital. I have had a lot of post surgery issues, but this is because I ended up having Crohns or something and was not cured by the colectomy. This is not something that usually happens, though. For the colectomy, they said I would be in 5-7 days and I think I was in for 5. I was out and about right when I got home and healed pretty quickly from that one. My issues at that time were with the ostomy bag because my stoma was below skin level. But I was feeling ok and able to walk and all of that. After surgery, it's important to get up and start walking as soon as they will let you. I would just take laps around the floor. It really helps with recovery