J Pouch Surgery

choosing major surgeries, with some risk of death, because of fear of enema is very questionable.

But it has helped many people. SOme here. There are also some folks here who did not get a good result, but just a few.

DB you know the meds for UC can kill u also? Id rather have surgery then go on the meds for UC. I've had UC for 32 years.Disease sucks.Ash if your quality of life isn't getting any better then it might be the right choice.My colon/rectum is slowly getting worse,Colon severely scared.So surgery looks for me to be best option.Im in New York where they have some great surgeons.Im healthy so i should be candidate for surgery and everything going well

Thank you for your reply ks1905! I guess I was trying to see downsides to the surgery as well as the positives and kind of what other people's experiences have been with it. I've been put on and off prednisone for 4 years and could tell everytime how damaging it was to my body. It would always cause joint pain. I hate the thought of being on medication for life, so I know one day I would like to have the surgery

Thank you for your reply UCWhat? How many surgeries did your procedure require? I know some require multiple surgeries. And did you have any trouble after the surgery? What was recovery like? Sorry for so many questions! lol I'm so new to the J Pouch/ileostomy stuff! It's never even been a consideration of mine until about a week ago

Ash,

The 12 years that I've been on HW I've only seen 3 people out of all the people who have had j-pouch surgeries who regretted it. Two had construction issues with their pouches (that's why you need an experienced surgeon but that's not a guarantee) and one had emotional issues (woof woof).

The two above people who regretted their j-pouches liked their ostomies to begin with, they wished that they stayed with their ostomies and not had the additional surgeries (they had their pouches removed and went back to ostomies, BIG surgeries). They did not regret their colectomies, just their j-pouches (construction issues).

If your QOL is poor with UC than you may be better off with surgery.

I had surgery a few years ago. I had 3 steps and everything went by the book really. I wasn't in the hospital extended for complications. Each step I was in and out, off pain meds within a week, back to working from home within a week. I was limited in doing activities or lifting things for a while, but not too long.

I'd love to say everyone has only positive to say about surgery, but there have been a few members here who have ended up unhappy with their decision to have surgery. I guess I understand why doctors say it's a "Last resort" - it's the unknown. When I was going into surgery, I was extremely scared. I would have loved to continue pumping my body with whatever drugs to get things to calm down and avoid surgery. Now I see that I would have done a disservice to myself to do that. Once you have surgery, there is no turning back. It's a long road, it's over the course of months... You have to have a temp ostomy. It's a hassle, but the end result can be well worth it - a life free of UC. The trade-off is going to the bathroom more often. For some people, that is not a situation they will entertain, if you can't handle going 6x a day, surgery is not for you.

Marianne is right, consult with a surgeon and see what they say. Might as well be informed. Using a very experienced surgeon is extremely important with this procedure. Do some research & consult with someone fantastic. You don't have to make any decisions, just ask questions. Fertility can be an issue after surgery so it's something to bring up.