J-pouch Life

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, [...]

Hey there. Hi. I’m Brevin and I’m about to blow your mind with this post, a roller-coaster ride of emotions and plot twists all involving the mystery of a missing colon. Mine! And now that I over-hyped it, be ready for a let-down. This Monday, the 13th, I’m going in for takedown, the surgery where [...]

I had my post-op appointment Friday over at UCSF. My surgeon saw me as I came in through the hallway and said hi, so my natural reaction was to impress her with an impromptu Irish jig. My reasoning at the time was to show her I’m perfectly healthy (note my joyous footwork!) and am so [...]

After receiving an interesting letter from my new GI yesterday, I’ve found myself in a rather contemplative mood.  I was diagnosed with unquestionable serious UC when I was 16.  The GI who diagnosed me recommended immediate surgery to remove the colon.  I declined, preferring instead to take meds for years and try my hand at [...]

First, I would like to give props to my fabulous husband for coming up with the name of my jpouch story. It isn’t quite as cool as ‘No colon and still rollin’ but still kind of catchy! This is just one more thing my supportive partner does to rock my colon-less world! My initial journey [...]

Well, given my status as a male, I’m not really qualified to answer this question, but I’ll give it a shot. How long after surgery should you wait to have sex (as a women)? I have read 6 weeks on the mayo clinic website, but the surgeon didn’t even mention anything to me. The “six [...]

I’ve just returned from a post-surgery follow-up (more hyphens anyone?) with my surgeon. I scheduled the appointment because I noticed something squishy around my incision. Since all my friends happen to be doctors, they all told me it was an umbilical hernia. In my nicely ignorant state of medical knowledge (with apologies to my wife [...]

My latest colonoscopy results are in. Prior to the colonoscopy, I was still in the decision making process and trying to overcome my fear of surgery. Well, the colonoscopy made the decision for me. After seven years of maximum dosage for my ulcerative colitis, I’m not improving. While I could suck it up and keep [...]

I was diagnosed with UC at the age of 19 after my freshman year of college. Things started progressing very rapidly and I did not respond to medications very well. I tried numerous medication including Remicade infusions and prolonged use of prednisone. After getting very sick one weekend I was admitted to the hospital on [...]