Update on Phoebeskye86 ... had my colonscopy today

Hi guys, here’s the update for Phoebeskye …..

Don’t know if you remember the “blood in stool…worried” post a few weeks back, but that was me , I was passing blood and had had diarrhea and nausea for about three months. Finally I saw the specialist, had my prep yesterday (dog awful stuff) and the colonoscopy this afternoon. Still feeling really tired but I wanted to do the ‘update’, I promised id keep you informed!

Well the prep was awful, mainly from the nausea feeling I had all day and the lack of food, and also the solution I had to drink this morning tasted like seawater and made me dry reach! The actual colonoscopy was fine; the needle was the worst part!

The doc saw me after my tea with three sugars and my four yummy biscuits (sugary food was orgasmic). He showed me the diagram he drew on during the procedure, I have “extensive ulceration of the colon”. I counted the spots that he put to represent an ulcer and there’s over 32 of them! Also ‘severe anal scaring and ulcers’, so they’re through the colon and around the anal area, which explains a lot (weight loss, pain when passing, passing blood, nausea etc). I had blood tests done which show I have a very low blood count and anemia. So that’s the update! As I said still a little woozy hasn’t sunk in yet, and I don’t know whether to take this as good or bad news. Glad it’s not cancer for sure! And also a BIG HUGE UNMEASUREABLE relief to be able to put a ‘face to the name’, to know what this mystery is that is going on inside of me. Still, I thought maybe I’d have ONE ulcer, not 32.

Hope everyone is well!

I'm also wondering whether this means I don’t have ibs and that instead it’s the ulcers causing all of my symptoms. Must ask the doc that when I see him next. They took biopsies so I suppose they’ll tell the docs more stuff that they and I need to know.

I'm sort of confused as to how I should take this, maybe it's the drugs and I'm not thinking straight...

Phoebe, it definitely sounds like IBD - either Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis, like dbab mentioned - and not IBS.  Though this is not good news, at least you will now be able to start treatment, educate yourself about the disease, and hopefully get yourself into remission.  These are chronic diseases that tend to flare-up randomly throughout your life.  They are not associated in any way with a shorter life span, however.  Some people get a couple of big flare-ups and otherwise feel great; others have flare-ups pretty regularly.  It is estimated that 2/3 of people with IBD will need surgery at some point to resection their intestines after the intestines become too diseased (can't remember where I got that number, but I think it's a good estimate).  Otherwise, there are tons of maintenance drugs out there and some very promising new ones that have allowed people to avoid surgery when they couldn't in the past.  The best website for you to get information is the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, www.ccfa.org.  There is probably one in Australia too. 

It is undeniable that the ulcerations are causing those symptoms.  You should check out the UC board or the Crohn's board, where lots of people can relate to the symptoms you are enduring and help you get things straight.  Now that you will surely soon be diagnosed officially, it will be much easier for you to explain to family, friends, professors, etc. about the problems associated with IBD.

I'm really glad you got that scoping.  Sounds like you breezed through it and with the great attitude you've shown, you're likely to keep going strong.  Keep in touch!