Why are we asking for others to blog their story?  Because of the response we’ve gotten from others in similiar situations.  Not only helping others, but it helps us heal as well – I guess giving back to the community makes you feel good!

In March 2008 a 19 year old male, Adam posted on jpouch.org, we responded to his question which you can see the full thread here, Adam’s Encouraging Post.  But it was what Adam responded with that made us realize that telling your story can really help others:

Adam’s Encouraging Post stated : “Megan– you have no idea how much I appreciate you replying first..I would check out all your photos and information if I already havn’t done so atleast 10 times already. Out of the hundreds of doctors and nurses and information they give out to you, all of the posts on this forum, and all websites I could ever find…your photos and information helped me out and eased my mind the most!
I sat in the hotel room before my my first surgery and went through all of it over and over again..I said yes to my prom date and eased the minds of my parents by showing the pictures and information to them and the quick progess Mark made. I know many people have benefited from your Flickr and it inspired me to do my own. I have documented up to this point and after my 2nd step I plan on setting one up hoping it will help someone the way yours helped me. Thank you!”

You see, part of the reason we photographed and told Mark’s story was because we didn’t have a resource like this one to read before surgery, and it was what we would have liked so that things weren’t so unknown or fearfully based from the unknown.

Photo by: Sean dreilinger

These posts might also help out:

• June 7, 2008 -- Getting Healthy Story #2 – Chelsea (3)

According to CCFA only:

“About eight to ten percent of patients will have pouch failure, which requires removal of the pouch and conversion to a permanent ileostomy.”

These posts might also help out:

• December 28, 2008 -- Sarah’s Permanent Ileostomy (8)
• August 1, 2008 -- Surgery Photos: Rob’s Story (1)
• June 20, 2008 -- Most FAQs: J-Pouch or Perm Ileo (0)
• June 14, 2008 -- Why you should maybe BLOG your story #1 (1)