Nick10136 posted:New Yawker:
First thank you for your post. I am a 71 year old male, who was very active until diagnosed with UC and now have an ostomy (for about 6 months). I do feel better (good days and bad days), but dislike the ostomy bag and being medicated with Entyvio every two months. A recent colonoscopy showed the UC still present and doctors say reconnecting me would not be an appropriate procedure. So the doctors are recommending colon removal and a J-Pouch.
Although they have not explained the entire procedure to me yet, I am assuming the operation will be a two step procedure--1) close the ostomy, fix a hernia behind it, remove the colon, form the J-Pouch and form an ileostomy. Step 2, about two months later, would be the takedown.
An alternative to the operation would be to stay like this and hope the medication will eventually put the UC in remission and I can be reconnected.
One final note; I am very concerned about the operation, especially at my age, but your posting was helpful.
Any thoughts from anyone would be helpful.
Nick10136
Nick,
I was of the mindset that some new drug or treatment would beat my UC into submission and subjective myself to years of potentially harmful drug cocktails. If you are being treated with such drugs and still experience the flare ups, think about the possibility that you could live a perfectly normal life, without any UC. The absolute worse case scenario would be that the pouch doesn't work out for you and you need to revert to a permanent ostomy bag. Even if that was the case, you would no longer have UC and wouldn't have to take maintenance drugs or medications that potentially cause cancer.
It is a tough decision with a variety of potential outcomes. I am obviously a success story and advocate the surgery time and time again. Again, it boiled down to me realizing that any outcome has to be better than dealing with constant distress of flare-ups and treatments. The surgery for this has advanced tremendously over the years and I believe chances of success are great.
Good Luck Nick and if you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.
Brett