Hi all,
I was diagnoses with Crohns 7 years ago and according to recent scans I have 15cm of bad bowl at the terminal ileum with one fistula to my colon and one abscess. I consider my Crohns mild as it only ever bothers me during a flare up that may happen 3-4 times a year. Even during a flare up it doesn't really bother me enough to severely effect my quality of life as I am still able to work and eat with minimal pain. I would say that I get a severe flare up once a year that may actually cause me to take a sick day or two and ease up on my food intake to let the flare up subside. These flares typically last 3-4 days and are usually caused by a high sugar intake (I have a bad sweet tooth). 3-4 days of watching what I eat along with my meds clears everything up.
My doctor is really pushing for a resection to clean everything up and start new. During a recent colonoscopy my colon came back with a perfect bill of health but my doc was unable to get a look at my crohns area as there is quiet a bit of scar tissue clogging up the area. My Doc said that even though I'm feeling good he wants me to get it taken care of now before it gets bad. Post opt he would take me off all medication until any signs of CD returns at which point I would start remicade. He is hoping I stay in remission for a while.
My biggest concern with the surgery is the possible ever lasting urgent diarrhea situation that I hear can happen when removing that specific area of intestine. Is it really worth saving my self from a hand full of days with mild discomfort for the chance of having to worry about being around a washroom 24/7 for the rest of my life? I meet with the surgeon next month but I was hoping some of you who had a minimal resection can chime in on if you were ever able to have normal BMs again.
I was diagnoses with Crohns 7 years ago and according to recent scans I have 15cm of bad bowl at the terminal ileum with one fistula to my colon and one abscess. I consider my Crohns mild as it only ever bothers me during a flare up that may happen 3-4 times a year. Even during a flare up it doesn't really bother me enough to severely effect my quality of life as I am still able to work and eat with minimal pain. I would say that I get a severe flare up once a year that may actually cause me to take a sick day or two and ease up on my food intake to let the flare up subside. These flares typically last 3-4 days and are usually caused by a high sugar intake (I have a bad sweet tooth). 3-4 days of watching what I eat along with my meds clears everything up.
My doctor is really pushing for a resection to clean everything up and start new. During a recent colonoscopy my colon came back with a perfect bill of health but my doc was unable to get a look at my crohns area as there is quiet a bit of scar tissue clogging up the area. My Doc said that even though I'm feeling good he wants me to get it taken care of now before it gets bad. Post opt he would take me off all medication until any signs of CD returns at which point I would start remicade. He is hoping I stay in remission for a while.
My biggest concern with the surgery is the possible ever lasting urgent diarrhea situation that I hear can happen when removing that specific area of intestine. Is it really worth saving my self from a hand full of days with mild discomfort for the chance of having to worry about being around a washroom 24/7 for the rest of my life? I meet with the surgeon next month but I was hoping some of you who had a minimal resection can chime in on if you were ever able to have normal BMs again.
