Hi Ides, Oppss...sorry about the violation - didn't mean to break the rules! We apologize :) Mark...
Hello, We are coming over to the CD forum because ya'll are part of the IBD family and we need your support to help bring IBD awareness. [b]Happy New Year! [i][b]Mark, Megan [/i]...
GREAT NEWS!! UCstory to Jpouch Life has been nominated for Best Medical/Health Issues Blog of 2008 by the Weblog Awards . There were many great blogs vying for the chance to be nominated. We are 1 of...
At what point do you have surgery is really the MILLION dollar question, and it took me 3 years to find out for myself how to answer. I can't tell you when you'll know, but you, your family and...
Great question - for me, the advocacy now of promoting IBD and Jpouch awareness has given my life purpose that I didn't have before. We started the blog as a way to talk with our family/friends...
Hi, Hmm...I didn't have much pain like you describe after my takedown, I know some gas pain is normal (sorta) but you shouldn't be having tons of pain. You may want to post over on www.jpouch.org at...
GREAT NEWS!! UCstory to Jpouch Life has been nominated for best medical/health issues blog of 2008. We are 1 of 10 nominees and feel very proud that people are willing to acknowledge the issues we...
Hi Chassity, Well, making the decision is definately the hardest part! You may want to visit our blog ucstory.wordpress.com you'll find lots of info and pictures from people having the uc to jpouch...
Every year in the magazine US News and World Report, they do a medical edition, and they cover 50 best hospitals for Digestive disorders - that was how I picked my hospital was based from that list...
Hi, Rarely do we hear of someone in the lime-light who is living with UC, but recently I was reading the new Rolling Stone, and found out that the Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs is living with UC. I...
Hey, Hope you are recovering alright. It is kinda a tough rough recovery but for me it was well worth regaining my health. Below is my 9 month update after surgery and you'll find I'm doing really...
Hello, We wanted to check in and let you know that we've got two new bloggers on the ucstory.wordpress.com blog. We've added Jenelle, a 27 yr old female who has had step 1 of surgery,...
Oh hemmorhoids, they just add insult to injury in my book. I posted on my blog about how I treat my hemi's and skin tags, plus I put some good links to Mayo Clinic on hemi treatments....
This is such a great question, and one that has been troublesome for me over the years. I know when I was really sick people would say "I hope you feel better soon" and at times I wanted to say "I...
Hi, On health talk they have some great resources that are objective regarding different UC treatment options. You may want to look through their site and see if you can't find on Imuran for UC....
Hi, There are lots of valuable resources out there to try and find out if eastern options are good for you. I am big believer is learning about all our options. Below is a link to a webcast done by...
Hi, There is the jpouch board for U.K., I've attached that link below, but if you need you might be able to find from there where a good UK UC forum is to help you answer your questions....
Hey Cooper, Yes, do learn ALL you can about the validity of the Promtheus test before you let the CD diagnosis turn your world upside down. It will be one of the most important pieces of info you can...
You may also want to visit www.jpouch.org and the forum board there you'll find others who've had the surgery and how they deal with the complications after surgery. However, if you Mom still has her...
Hi, That is overwhelming information to absorb. Do you know which test your doctor gave you to decide a CD diagnosis? Was it the Prometheus Blood Test? If it was the Prometheus test, I would...
I tried everything natural and then some before I decided on surgery. I think it is important that each person try whatever they need to try for themselves before making the surgery decision. I have...
Have you ever tried accupuncture? Mark swears 4 sessions of accupuncture can get him back into a normal sleep pattern....
Hi Brandon, It took Mark and I years to communicate his health situation to our families and friends. I think one of the most challeging parts of this disease is developing an understanding support...
Oh, the mystery of what do probiotics like VSL do? The best way I've had it explained is in the video that we posted on our blog. It is a good little video that isn't real long and rather...
Hey Edie, How are you feeling these days, you make is sound in the post above that you are really seriously considering surgery?! So no remission yet? Megan...
Hello, For those of you maybe pushing around that surgery idea, we wanted to share with you that we have a new blogger on the ucstory blog - Stephanie is 21 yrs old, and she is headed into surgery on...
This is such wonderful news that she has healed so quickly and is headed back into living a healthy life. Congrats to her, and to your family - enjoy the health. I know our family everyday cheers how...
Visit Kimberly's site, she is the Mom of a 2 year old with UC who is headed into surgery soon, her blog is: sweetsliceoflife.wordpress.com I know she is member of dragonpack.com...
Hi, From the partner perspective, Mark's interest really decreased throughout the years with UC. He was either just sick feeling, or worried always that he'd have to get up, etc..You know the drill....
I used acupuncture often to help me with sleeping. While I was on prednisone and flaring it was so hard to get any sleep, but when I did acupuncture it seemed to be the only thing that would help me....
It was soccermandy and 1 other girl, Ashley who prompted our idea to do a photo blog of the surgery. We were so desperate to see what it all looked like, scars and ileostomy. Soccermandy was really...
We are always looking for photos that make sense of these diseases and situations - recently found this found of Mandy, she is in high school, has an ostomy now due to UC, and in this photo you can...
Edie, So awesome for you! It would be incredible to have a GI who does understand from experience. Do keep us posted with your test results. Sending good vibes your way :)...
Hi Edie, We totally understand, but if you ever want to share your experience with living with uc and pondering surgery, we'd love to have you join on!...
Hi, We are so excited that we have a guest blogger on our UC Story to J-Pouch blog! Although the MAJORITY of UC people DO NOT have surgery (60-80% do not need surgery), if you are in that other...
There was recently a post that triggered how complicated communicating pain and the reality of disease like UC/CD can be, especially when you look healthier than you feel. Communicating to family the...
ComedyDork, Are you in school at a University, because the majority of universities have a counseling service that offers FREE services to students. You should definately look into that. Here is a...
Jen, I'm sorry to hear that your Mom is "blaming" you for this disease. You'll need to talk with your Mom, show her resources and get her to support you on this. She can NOT blame you for this, this...
Here is a good video explaining "What is UC", well done, short and may be good to watch: http://ucstory.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/video-what-is-uc/ ...
I agree with Sue, diet didn't "cause" your UC. Here is a good link to the respected Mayo clinic. It is believed to be a genetic issues, and that something "triggered" the UC to become active. What...
Hi, You may want to try some of the natural stuff. I had some success with Aloe Juice, and Fish Oil pills. Also, to help with the inflammation I would take advil as well (though I'm sure that...
I agree with Sue, those who made the elective surgery choice aware of the reality of possible complication don't seem to have regrets. And you may want to read what I posted in the previous post by...
Here is what I think about worrying the POSSIBLE complications. We worried about the possible complications for 3 years before making the surgery decision. We were so afraid that this or that would...
Here I am with walking the halls with my foley cat., I was out when they inserted it, and the nurse removed it quickly and right there in my hospital room 4 days after surgery. They HAVE to use a...
Hi KayKay, Sorry to hear about your struggles. I had a 2 step jpouch surgery about a year ago. I documented my 2 surgeries with photos and text, see the weblink below. If you'd like a better visual...
Hey G. You may want to check out my blog below, on there are my photos from the 2 surgeries and details about BMs, prep tests, etc......
Hi, So sorry to hear about your Mom, this is such a difficult diagnosis at her age. When I had UC, I tried all sorts of alternative medicine, I discuss all my attempts in the following post. But the...
Brian, How did your doctors visit go? Also, I tried all sorts of alternative medicine, I discuss all my attempts in the following post. But the post also links to an article by the Mayo Clinic, and a...
As far as I know, severe means hospitalization and likely progressing towards surgery. I was severe, went down to moderate, back to severe and now I have a jpouch....
Hi, I was on Humira for a 3 month trial after Remicade, and was in surgery 1 month after we knew Humira wasn't working. The story is kinda complex but here are the details: My GI and I agreed to try...