Yeah, Matt... That sounds like a pretty conclusive and exact diagnosis.. and since it hasn't spread in 12 years, it would seem like whatever you are doing is working.
I'll give you a little personal history... Had my 1st bout with this (symptom wise) in the early 90's. My GP at the time couldn't pin down a diagnosis. Treated it with a strong pred enema for 45 days, it went away for a decade.
Post millenium, I had a bout of in-explicable pancreatitis... Unfortunately, before they were able to diagnose it as that, one of the possible diagnosis's thrown around was pancreatic cancer... since my father & my doctors father had both passed away from that... AND since I had none of the 'typical' causes of pancreatitis... Early tests were inconclusive, (had to wait a long, long time for an MRI) but amongst them was a sigmoidoscopy done by the leading GI in the area. He found old scarring (from the early 90's episode) that he told me was from colitis, but he couldn't identify what exact type of colitis it was. Since it was old, and no sign of recent activity (at least visible via sigmoidoscope) it wasn't deemed pertinent to my situation at the time. Anyway, after going on a liquid only diet during my stay in the hospital, the pancreatitis mysteriously just went away.
Fast forward a couple of years... Wasn't feeling well, thought I had the flu. It wasn't. Ended up in the ER... Again, had severe pancreatitis, with pancreatic cysts... Dr's thought it was my gallbladder.. But I was bleeding too. so I went back to the GI.. he did a scope (colonoscopy)... found some minor colitis, again he couldn't determine what type.. but it was only a few inches, thought it was treatable with a/b's.. and very mild. And my pancreas and gallbladder were the major issues... After the cysts went down, another dr. removed my g/b and I was given a 'clean' bill of health. However, shortly thereafter my bleeding got way worse.. Showed my docs pix of my bleeding, they did another scope, and scheduled me for 'urgent' resection. those few inches were now 1 & 1/2 feet. Took it out. Told it was Diverticular Associated Colitis, and surgery was a cure.
Wrong. About a month & a half after, my remaining pristine colon was fully inflamed. Again, they couldn't say what type of colitis it was, only they knew it wasn't DAC, AND they (after reviewing the pancreatic, gallbladder, other side issues) WASN'T sure it wasn't crohns.. They were never able to scope inside my ileum to see if it was involved... Anyway, a definite/definitive diagnosis of one or the other really doesn't change my 'treatment', and would only come in to play IF removal of the colon (or the remaining colon) was considered. IF my IBD is just colitis, then removal of it should leave me mostly symptom free. IF it isn't just colitis, THEN it could trigger/force it to enter my ileum (if it isn't there already).. Since I'm not keen on the idea of removing my colon, the point is moot.. for the mo. Anyway, I forced you down my memory lane against your will for a reason... I'm not trying to 'one up' your condition, just trying to point out that a 'stable' case of it with a firm diagnosis CAN be a blessing in disguise.
If my few inches of colitis had stayed that way for 12 years, even 12 months, I would have enjoyed every minute of it, skipped a major surgery, perhaps even managed to hang on to my career... and the associated health benefits that came with it. Not complaining, not bitching.. there are plenty of people who've had it way worse than me... and you. I know, I attended the funerals of some who were way younger, whose diagnosis's make IBD a walk in the park, OK?
