Hello,
I am 28 years old and have been fighting this disease for 6 years now. At first, I was told I had IBS as a remnant of an e. colii infection in college. As it progressed, I knew this was more than IBS, but I was not officially diagnosed until 2013. I had a brief remission period of 6 weeks that September and have been in a continual flare with no more than 10 good days for almost two years now. I lost my job as an RN after contracting resistant C diff (working in L and D is very high risk for those with UC/Crohn's), had a fecal transplant last August that took care of the c diff (after having it almost a year), but my colitis has not improved. That being said, I am still scared. I know that the majority of those who get j pouches are very satisfied, and truthfully, my life cannot get much worse, I am just scared. I will be having the two-step procedure, so my takedown will be in July 2015. My fiance and I met last fall, and he has been supporting, loving, and compassionate this entire time. And he is always there to remind me that he will love me no matter what. He has watched my colitis become worse and worse after trying humira and prednisone did not help me at all. Truthfully, I don't even know what I am afraid of. I already have debilitating pain most days, often go for almost a week with no solid foods, and have missed more baby showers, weddings, and birthdays than I care to count. I am on Bentyl and Tylenol #4, as well as occasionally valium for rectal spasms. But I do want to have children. I have a maternal uncle who had an identical disease progression--but his was 30 years ago and he had been on prednisone for so long his take down fell apart. There are already areas of dysplasia, and all of the flexures in my colon are constricted. I guess I am looking for outside affirmation.
Thank you