Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a good weekend, ok my question is, when did everyone know it was time to have surgery? At what point were you all at when your doctor decided that surgery was right for you? I had a CT scan yesterday and I'm suppose to get my results tomorrow. I have good days and bad days, but last CT scan I had back in December showed my Ileum being really inflammed and lots and lots of ulcers. I just have this feeling that surgery is somewhere down the road.:angry-banghead:
When is it time for surgery?
- Thread starter BBACK12
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I had a stricture that was causing vomiting with almost everything I ate, I was loosing weight and was in excruciating pain all the time/was always so weak from vomiting. I think it was obvious then. However, everyone and their symptoms are different. Usually surgery is necessary for relief if you are having persistent pain and other symptoms that aren't being managed properly by medications.
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I wonder the same thing BBACK12. I've had Crohn's for 4 years and have been sick more than I have been better, and have tried way too many drugs. This past summer, I went to the hospital because I was sick and they did some blood tests and my "inflammation index" or something, was like 220. To put that in perspective, the average person index in between 0-5. When some of the doctors saw the results they asked, "how the heck are you ever sitting up?! why weren't you in the hospital sooner?". After a CT and other tests, they told me my entire colon was inflammed, along with my ileum (sp?) and I had a bit of scar tissue. Scary considering I NEVER ever had that much inflammation before. I used to just have 2 patches within my large intestine.
Now, the point of that story was to say: even with all that crap, no doctor (and I saw MANY this past year) mentioned surgery or anything of the sort. Actually, now that I think about it, no one has ever mentioned surgery to me, even though I've been in so much pain before it hurt my stomach to even breath.
I think a lot of it must depend on your doctor and how willing YOU are to have surgery. If it's just inflammation, I think most GI will try to fix the problem with meds first. If you are experiencing other things like fistuals, sores, strictures, etc, surgery may be required.
I don't know if I actually answered your question, haha, but hopefully I raised some helpful points
Good luck with your results, I really hope everything is well!
Now, the point of that story was to say: even with all that crap, no doctor (and I saw MANY this past year) mentioned surgery or anything of the sort. Actually, now that I think about it, no one has ever mentioned surgery to me, even though I've been in so much pain before it hurt my stomach to even breath.
I think a lot of it must depend on your doctor and how willing YOU are to have surgery. If it's just inflammation, I think most GI will try to fix the problem with meds first. If you are experiencing other things like fistuals, sores, strictures, etc, surgery may be required.
I don't know if I actually answered your question, haha, but hopefully I raised some helpful points
Good luck with your results, I really hope everything is well!
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I just had surgery a few days ago, and basically it was my last option. I've failed all medicines as of right now. I just had 18 inches of small intestine and first part of my colon removed. Basically, it was so strictured and full of scar tissue it was way past repair. No amount of medicine would have ever fixed what I had going on in there. Now, I still have inflammation/ulcers in part of my colon, but it was to be believed that can be fixed with medications.
My symptoms were severe pain, vomiting, weight loss, diarrhea 20+ times a day. It was really awful and even steroids were not making it any better.
My symptoms were severe pain, vomiting, weight loss, diarrhea 20+ times a day. It was really awful and even steroids were not making it any better.
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I had two direct surguries for this plague. The first I was 13 year sold my parents made the call. And the second I had a hernia so I had no real choice in the matter. Up to now life as madethe decision for me. However having been through the bag procedure twice, if I get the choice of having surgery where a bag might be involved again, you can bet your fur that I will endure a lot of pain before I say yes to that.
Wow! Thanks everyone for the advice and stories. I have seen more bad days than good. Loose stools, weird fevers, nausea, cramping, gas, mucus, it's been horrible. Not to mention the anxiety I have over all of this and then wondering if c-diff could return. Another question of mine is, if you have surgery and have different parts of the colon removed, can people still have children?
