Facing colon removal

I have a question for anyone facing or undergone colon removal. I've had UC for over 18 years now and my only symptom has been blood in stool. No pain or diarrhea, but at my last colonoscopy they suggested colon removal die to lentgh of time having it and pseudo polyps. I just can't imagine doing this sbecause I feel so well with no symptoms. Just wondering if anyone else had to make this same decision with these symptoms?

Having Ulcerative Colitis a long time and having pseudo polyps aren't at all legitimate reasons to have a colectomy. Pseudo polups are non cancerous, as pseudo means fake in medical jargon.

Reasons to have a colectomy include findind dysplasia which are precancerous cells, being non-responsive to treatments, and certain flat polyps are high risk of cancer,.

I agree, you need to get more information from your doctor, unless you have uncontrollable inflammation, or multiple finds of dysplasia, or high grade dysplasia, it seems extreme. I'm meeting with the surgeon Monday, to discuss the same surgery. My doctor laid it out clearly for me, and I have no doubt it is the right thing to do. I've had multiple findings of pre-cancerus polyps in the past year, and the second opinion on the "normal" biopsies of my colon exhibited dysplasia.

One thing that is clear to me is once they find one area exhibiting dysplasia, things can start changing quickly, even if you feel fine. I'm slowly digesting the situation, a month ago, it was it can wait till the end of the summer, and last week, after the second opinion it was how quickly can we get this done. Feeling fine makes it harder to make sense to do it.

If your doctor recommends scopes every 3 or 6 months, I'd do. I'm sure it will beat cancer. There are some studies that you can find on line that are fairly easy to follow, so you can be more educated. I hope you get more information from your doctor so you can make the right decision. ~40% of UC patients end up having surgery, either because the disease can't be controlled or they are facing cancer, you're not alone if it comes to pass.

I had surgery and I am very thankful to be done with UC, but in the case that you're fine, I don't see why on earth you would have surgery. Surgery itself is difficult, and life after surgery has it's challenges. I have to admit, mine are pretty minimal, but it's still not the most convenient to have to go more often... I can't see having surgery if your symptoms are controlled and you don't have cancerous changes... Seems unnecessary. If you were flaring for a year and you had no more medical options, I'd say YES, you can get your life back. Or if you had severe UC and you were getting to the age where surgery was not going to be well tolerated, maybe, but what you describe, it doesn't seem necessary. Maybe we don't have all the details. You could always consult a surgeon to get more information and see if it's something that you're interested in, but I can't see why you would have surgery if you're not having problems.