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So, did he die from UC?

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Posted 7/6/2013 11:59 AM (GMT 0)

A friend of mine has a brother who's suffered from UC all his life, was diagnosed with UC 50+ years ago, and at age 18 had to have his colon removed and ended up with a bag ( he's 66 now). Seems he had to have multiple surgeries as a result of it, wherein there were always other more serious complications as a result.

Apparently he has built up serious scar tissue from all the UC related surgeries, and it created numerous blockages which always landed him in the hospital over the past 40 years. He was in the hospital due to an obstruction a few months ago, and developed complications which took a few weeks to resolve.

On a recent check up, they found a "shadow' on the left lung, which they biopsied and found to be ok, but he was in the hospital (btw, a good hospital on Long Island, NY) , and then went into cardiac arrest ( they resusitated him) , then his kidneys stopped working and was put on dialysis, and then he had trouble breathing and was put on a respirator, and then he died suddenly. The family is grief stricken. Very sad situation.

So did he die as a result of his UC or bad hospital care?

I think he died as a result of  bad hospital care, complicated by a lifetime of UC. 66 years old!

What do you think?

Posted 7/6/2013 1:02 PM (GMT 0)
I think there's no way to know based on this information. He could have died due to poor care, poor surgery, of from a totally unrelated cardiac problem or kidney problem. Or a host of other reasons.

We all have to die sometime from something, and 66 isn't as young a death as it may first seem. Yes, a lot of people live well into their 90's, but a lot also die in their late 50's. Lifestyle and genetics have a lot to do with it.
Posted 7/6/2013 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
I think you are right -
Posted 7/6/2013 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
Here's another lady who died in this type of circumstance. She had surgery then kept needing additional surgeries. I don't know if she could have lived, even if she were at a different hospital... I think she would have died sooner without the surgery but she probably would have avoided some agony that way. Seems like a lot of people have recurrent issues after surgery, not the majority by any means, but it happens. I don't even know if it's the doctors or hospitals, maybe they weren't a great candidate for whatever reason and it's individual.

www.jpouch.net/photos/abbys-story/
Posted 7/6/2013 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
Ha, as a life long New Yorker let me just tell you... there's no such thing as "a good hospital on Long Island." I had to fire my LI GI and you couldn't pay me enough to ever have surgery there.

It sounds like he died of complications after cardiac arrest. I don't see how UC comes into it at all.

There are sad stories and bad results from literally everything, even the simplest procedures and issues... I found that Abby's story site the weekend before my surgery and FLIPPED out, that was the day my mom forbid me from reading about surgery online anymore!
Posted 7/6/2013 4:15 PM (GMT 0)
He could have opted not to have a colectomy at age 18 and died then, instead of age 66.

Sue
Posted 7/6/2013 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
"On a recent check up, they found a "shadow' on the left lung, which they biopsied and found to be ok, but he was in the hospital (btw, a good hospital on Long Island, NY) , and then went into cardiac arrest ( they resusitated him) , then his kidneys stopped working and was put on dialysis, and then he had trouble breathing and was put on a respirator, and then he died suddenly."

Based on this information, I don't see anything UC related. 

Posted 7/6/2013 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
Wow, all sorts of things come into play...especially with someone who's had continuing issues with hospital stays/surgeries/complications, etc.

The only way the family will find out is with an autopsy to see inside what was going on.

Scar tissue can cause a myriad of issues...connecting one organ to another...they don't function properly.

It could also be that his body just started to shut down from possibly malnutrition since his digestive system wasn't working well.

But, I don't see UC as any issue here...it's just one thing this poor man had to deal with and seemed resolved. It's the other crap that continued and his body just ran out of steam. Any illness, surgery, recovery, etc is tough on a body.

I agree with everyone and their perspectives on the issue...he might have been misdiagnosed or missed a diagnosis on an issue. Sounds as though he had a bad genetic make-up with lots of health issues that may have resulted from a domino effect.

q
Posted 7/7/2013 12:29 AM (GMT 0)

Pluot said...
Ha, as a life long New Yorker let me just tell you... there's no such thing as "a good hospital on Long Island." I had to fire my LI GI and you couldn't pay me enough to ever have surgery there.

It sounds like he died of complications after cardiac arrest. I don't see how UC comes into it at all.

There are sad stories and bad results from literally everything, even the simplest procedures and issues... I found that Abby's story site the weekend before my surgery and FLIPPED out, that was the day my mom forbid me from reading about surgery online anymore!

Wow this is scaring me. I'm from Old Westbury, Long Island and usually go to North Shore university Hospital.

If I ever decide to go for a surgery consultation, it should be the gastros from Mt. Sinai in NYC since they are one of the best from what I heard?

Liz, which hospital did you go to or which gastros did you see? I go to North Shore Gastro in Great Neck.
Posted 7/7/2013 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
My old GI was in Great Neck but a different practice than yours. I switched to Cornell -- I wanted a second opinion when the LI GI wanted to put me on Remicade, and my new GI was such a complete 180 (actually wanted to hear my entire history instead of treating me like a cookie cutter case; gave me her cell phone number instead of being impossible to reach; etc) that I never went back. Sinai is great too, I just happened to pick Cornell. One thing I particularly like about Cornell is that the GI practice is for IBD only -- the doctors there ONLY treat confirmed cases of UC and Crohn's.

J-pouch surgery just isn't performed often enough on Long Island for me to ever consider it. You want a surgeon who has performed many hundreds of j-pouch procedures in their career and a hospital that is used to having lots of j-pouch patients come through on a regular basis.
Posted 7/7/2013 12:50 AM (GMT 0)
Oh I see...
I will keep that in mind just in case if I decide that I need to go for a visit.

I just googled some info and maybe I'll start with Jill Roberts Center for IBD from Cornell in the future.

Thanks.
Posted 7/7/2013 7:46 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think it was UC specifically. The shadow could have been interstitial lung disease which would weaken his lungs. His lungs might not have been strong enough to withstand the anesthesia from the lung biopsy in which case he ends up on a ventilator after the procedure. Well, when your lungs stop it put tremendous strain on your heart. Depends on which nurse was working in ICU that night and whether or not they could intervene quickly enough with the cardiac arrest. I personally would have CT scanned the shadow at his age and not biopsied it. The biopsy is a stressful procedure on the body especially at his age given his medical history. I think the biopsy was overkill.
Posted 7/7/2013 6:57 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks guys for your input.

Soystud:  I think you are right

who are you referring to here?

Pluot: It was North Shore hospital.

I don't the names of the GI team though.

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