J-pouch Life

Hi all! So for those of you who have followed my story for the past few months you know there have been many ups and downs.  New theories emerged, the one most perplexing and possibly exciting one being that perhaps I didn’t actually have Crohn’s disease-maybe just a horrible case of pouchitis due to poor [...]

Hey Readers! We have a long comment from Cynthia C. and she has a handful of really great questions for the jpouch community. Would you take a few minutes to read her post and see her questions at the end. Thanks so much! Megan & Mark # Cynthia C. Cynthia C. says: February 23rd, 2010 [...]

My name is Sara Randall, I’ll be 25 years old next month, and I have been living with an illeostomy bag since September 9, 2009. Obviously my story doesn’t start there. When I was in high school I was energetic, super athletic, always on the go, and to self conscious for my own good. When i first started [...]

Hi I’m Jackie. I’m a 25 year old woman child from my native of Michigan. I have a bit of an interesting UC story so bear with me while I get my intro out of the way. I was officially diagnosed with UC in May of 2009, but had symptoms for easily 10 years. In [...]

I don’t want to steal thunder from Lizz’s post below. Nay, instead she actually inspired me to post my update. I would just do this as comment for her post but I don’t know how to add pictures as a comment. November 11th will be my 6 month anniversary of the first surgery and well, [...]

There’s that great line in the bible (or the Byrds song, whichever you prefer), “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Prior to my diagnosis of UC and, subsequently, Crohn’s, I was a devoted and passionate dancer.  It was my “thing.”  It was also [...]

So, at every previous job since I’ve had IBD I’ve been very vocal about my disease.  It was practical because I was sick at the time, and when people asked me questions, the advocate in me burst forth!  Since I’ve been in remission and managed to get a job in Portland, OR in this crazy [...]

Hey Readers, We just got this email from Tom, and he is new to seeking online support to figure out the complication he is dealing with.  Could you all take a peak at his concern and see if you have any insight.  Also, we encourage our readers to post their questions/concerns at jpouch.org because that [...]

After I had Step Two of my three surgeries, I was expelling waste rather quickly. Too quickly, it seemed. I was afraid I couldn’t adsorb anything so my surgeon recommended chewable vitamins. Although they seem childish, you can absorb them better because you’ve chewed them first! Even now, after takedown, I still take 2 chewable [...]