I’m 44 years old and the mother of three with a husband. When I first got UC, it wasn’t as bad as it is now. 2009 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and before that I had it for a year. It was pretty horrible until I got on prednisone in 2009 and as soon as I took the prednisone I was better. After I stopped taking prednisone, I took Asacol for a couple of months, but my joints hurt and I felt bad taking drugs wondering what the long-term side-affects would be to my body. After three months I stopped taking any kind of medication. In October 2011 my colitis became so bad I had to get hospitalized for five days. It was very very bad. It was far worse than the the worst it was in 2009.
Colitis Symptoms:
My symptoms change all the time. At present, my stomach is bloated and sore. I was supposed to work out at Zumba tonight, but I can’t, because the pain is too great. Today I have urgency and actually nothing happens when I go to the washroom.
My Story:
If I’m sometimes almost normal, should I have my colon removed? I am planning on it, but I feel stupid for doing it. I am also VERY scared to do it. I saw the video for the surgery on youtube and it is gross. It makes me think of torture and it’s horrifying, but I am not going to take any more drugs. None. Last October I had to be hospitalized for five days and I have never recovered fully. In 2009 I was diagnosed with UC after suffering for a year with no one knowing what was wrong with me. I felt crazy for bugging the doctor, but I knew it wasn’t hemorrhoids or an infection, I knew it was something different. I just didn’t know what. I consulted with a surgeon and I don’t trust him to operate on me, so I scheduled an appointment at Mayo Clinic and I am supposed to go there on the 29th of May for 3 – 5 days of getting checked out and they will decide if I should have surgery. My gastrointestinal doctor said he agreed that surgery would be good, but the doctor I was referred to I feel very uncomfortable with. I quit my job as I was on the toilet at least 6 hours out of an 8 hour shift. I wasn’t fired, but I didn’t think it was fair to my employer. I have applied to a part-time job with flexibility today actually. I’ll have to take a week off to go to Mayo and another week at least to recover from the surgery if they agree to do it. I am currently taking supplements which help control UC in a way. Sometimes it doesn’t work very well. I also have joint aches with the drugs so bad it is difficult to get up in the mornings. Any UC drugs I’ve tried I’ve had very sore joints. I feel so much better without the drugs, even though the pain of the UC is pretty bad sometimes, it is preferable to the drugs.
Where I’d Like to Be in 1 Year: In a year I’d like to be healthy.
written by Wendy
I’m 51 years old and the mother of three with a husband. I’ve written several stories over quite a few years on this site. And in 2019 I decided towards surgery.