J-pouch Life

Hey, guys.  Long time no blog.  So, here’s the scoop-I’ve been doing a lot better since my visit with pouch guru Dr. Bo Shen back in November.  He diagnosed me with efferent limb syndrome which means that the connection to my j-pouch goes at a diagonal instead of vertical making it really hard to poop!  [...]

Well, I finally made the pilgrimage back to Cleveland Clinic (CC) to see the famed “King of Pouches”, Dr. Bo Shen. As one involved in the J-pouch/IBD community, I had, of course, heard of Dr. Shen before. He’s sort of the last desperate act for a lot of people who come from all over the [...]

Omg you guys, I’m dying. Ok I’m not dying its a tad dramatic but I’m not recovery very gracefully. First of all, you should go read about my disaster of a surgery #2. Long story short….I didn’t get it, what I did get was the 6-8 weeks of recovery. Awesome. Also what i have gotten [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

I just wanted to make a quick note about Prednisone, as many people with UC (and many other diseases) end up taking it. Back when UC was a very minor part of my life, my biggest fear (because surgery didn’t even seem like a possibility) was having to take Prednisone. I try to talk to [...]

Check this out, especially if you are newly diagnosed:  What is Ulcerative Colitis Video? The video covers all the medicines and why these medicines are used etc…super informative. Excellent Resource:  10 Key Questions about UC Also, here is a good link to read more about what is UC:  Online Book about UC. Image via: Lifespan.org