OK, at this point, the consensus is that it would be a temporary colostomy. However, it has been suspected that my disease extends above the terminal ileum, but has never been confirmed because the inflammation in my colon made going beyond it impossible. So... when they do the surgery.. my diagnosis might change. The other aspect is... that when I originally got ill... back in 2006... I had indeterminate IBD, which eventually was diagnosed as a mixture of Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis... but predominantly Ulcerative. This actually turned out to be good news... as the two competed with each other. When LDN kicked in... it healed the UC infected areas (the majority of my colon) leaving only a few pockets of Crohns areas where ... although the disease went dormant.. I was left with oodles of scar tissue. This time... my disease presented itself differently. The last foot or so or my colon was pristine... but everything above was affected. And my bathroom episodes were also completely different... 1st time, I'd go... with tremendous amounts of bleeding... (litre of blood every other day or so) couple of dozen times or more per day.. and in (sorry if this is too much information) bouts that seemed never ending, you know? Like, I'd wonder how it was possible for a human body to produce such amounts. On this latest version of the disease... I only go about a dozen times per day... in very miniscule amounts... and absolutely no bleeding. The 'doctors' think it is Ulcerative Colitis again (I believe because that was the predominant culprit last time) but I have a 'gut' feeling they are wrong (not that doctors can make mistakes or anything). So, my long winded point is...
I've been told this would be a temporary colostomy... but that would be a best case scenario... yet I wouldn't be at all surprised if... once they open me up.. they discover it is more substantial... and that my prognosis (or theirs) could dramatically change, OK?
And, I might find... once I've made the adjustment... that living with an ostomy .. may be a better option than living with a J-pouch. I've been told that the success rate for reversals is about 70%... so reversals aren't guaranteed. And that, with a J-pouch, I may find that I'm going to the bathroom about a dozen times a day anyway. I'm doing that now... which makes earning my living as a truck driver physically out of the question. So I may come to the realization that sticking with a colostomy may be a better option for me (at least until I'm ready to retire from trucking). You see? I have tons of questions. And my only source of info stems from doctors... (not that they are ever mistaken, right?)
