# Having Colon Removed



## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

Finished all the tests, the marker study test being finished today and it showed 23 out of the 24 markers still in my colon after 5 days. So that's conclusive the colon has shut down. At least I have the factual proof of what I've known all along. Will be scheduling my operation for next month. I won't even need a bag. Doctor said not even temporarily so that's great. He'll just do a lapo surgery and remove the colon and reattach the small intestines to my rectum. I'll be good as new!I'm so glad this process is coming to the end.


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

Well i hope everything will works according to plan.Bowel are so stupid isn't it?Seriously,what do expect for the stool formation after the colectomy?Have you discuss this with the surgeon?


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

Also,where was located the accumulated Sitz marker?


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## firstone (Jul 21, 2007)

What was your symptoms when your colon had shut down or starting to shut down?. You couldnt pass your stool?Good luck on that... I hope everything goes well for you...


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

The first symptom was constipation, pain and bloating. The first QUAKE GI doc I saw (who turns out did my first marker study wrong) put me on Zelnorm and that was it. I could have had this surgery last year and had my life back by now, but because of her stupidity I've had to suffer an entire year. The small intestines will start to take over the job of the colon after awhile. Everyone is different but I'll be going to the bathroom at least 3 times a day and probably more. I'm not going to know what to do w/ myself.Here's a forum for ppl who have had and are looking at having the surgery. Some on here have the bag, but I won't have to. thought I'd post it if you are interested in further info. it's always good to talk to ppl who have been there, done that.Thanks!http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=33


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

Where was located the accumulated Sitz marker? What the other doc did wrong?Most doc don't even order Sitz marker,i wasn't so bad i think.


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

They were scattered throughout but most were on the left side. The other doc ordered the marker test wrong. She only had me take one xray. Sitz marker studies are either 3 days or 5 days. Were you seeing GI doctors? Most of them do order all kinds of tests for the digestive system since that's their speciality. The surgeon ordered all my tests since he needs to know if my pelvic floor is functioning properly and to know exactly how the colon is or isn't working.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Hope you feel better, a few people can have problems with scar tissue afterward so you do want to have all the tests before heading down this route. Getting the pelvic floor tested is important because if that isn't working right (or can't be corrected) you'll still have a lot of difficulties with that after the surgery.They do this for slow-transit constipation (what the sitz marker test will show) because for these people the benefits are much more likely than the risks. K.


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

Yeah the surgeon said it around a 94% success rate. He does 150 of these surgeries a year and said that only 1% have problems. I'm very excited that there is a solution to this and I won't have to worry about what side effect meds like Zelnorm are having on my body and I won't have to pay for them or worry about if the FDA is going to take the med off the market.Of course no meds helped me. But even if they did I would actually rather have a permanent solution than taking meds the rest of my life.


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

I wonder why they do not remove colon of IBSers.It dosen't make any sense to keep an organ that make your life misery lol


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

I agree. But I have to think at least some of it has to do w/ insurance companies and also GI doctors want to keep people on meds and coming back to them. JMHO


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

I would try cecopexia first tho.www.cecopexia.com


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

For the sake of argument assume you have a severe magnesium deficiency. Then those sitz markers or anything else wont move through that colon. Sitz markers dont prove that you need surgery. It only proves what you already knew going in and that was that you are constipated. So you have to isolate the problem to the colon specifically while at the same time ruling out everything else. You dont say here that this you have done. Surgeons will dwell on the benefits of their craft at the expense of time spent considering and quantifying the risks for you. I would suggest that you carefully consider that all surgeons and all hospitals are not the same before commending yourself into the hands of one.If you want to get through this minefield you will have your work cutout for you.


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

I have MS. The MS has damaged that part of my CNS that regulates the colon. Just like someone with Crohn's effects their intestines. I don't have IBS. I have a damaged CNS. I've been dealing w/ this for two years, not two months, two weeks or two days. I have tried everything. I was taking 1,000mg of Magnesium a day and at one point upped it to 2,000mg. So I knew I wasn't deficient in that.But not eating b/c I was in pain was making me deficient in alot of other nutrients I needed and a person can't keep trying different things w/ no results while their body is starving. My MS specialist referred me to my GI doc, who referred me to this surgeon. The GI doc said he wasn't a surgeon who jumped on surgery. I'm very excited knowing that this crippling symptom is going to be removed. I have enough MS pain/symptoms to deal with. If I can get rid of a major pain, then I will. Other ppl can live with their pain if they want, just don't keep complaining about it. Sometimes I think ppl don't want an answer they just want to have something to complain about.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

I know you are very excited about getting rid of this crippling symptom. But you still must be focused on unintended consequences. At this point you may be letting emotions interfere with logic. I'm playing devil's advocate here to compensate for that. You say the surgeon has quoted you a 94% sucess rate and that only 1% have problems. Doing the math that would be either 94% success rate with 6% problems or 1% problems with a 99% success rate. Which is it? Whenever a surgeon makes car salesman statements like this you would want to know a corroborating basis for the statement (otherwise you may assume he's pulling numbers out of the air). Supporting evidence for this type of statement usually references the results of followup studys conducted over many years to reveal any long term problems. What does the 94% success rate cover? Is it just the time from the operating room to the time you are discharged fom the hospital with the end point being that you are still alive?Or is it the results of a 10 year study of 10,000 patients that have undergone this exact same procedure and have remained free of any adverse events. If the latter get the name of the study and other studies like it and go over the details of it. Find out if you will need any long term special medications whose costs may be astronomical (more than $100 a pill).


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

How I read the surgeon's statements.Overall this proceedure has about a 94% success rate in some study with many different surgeons.In my practice I see about 1% of the people having problems.Now you may have some slop of those that it doesn't work that well for so are not a success, but are not someone that has scar tissue issues or something else that makes them worse off.It is good to find out how "success" is defined in a situation. and what the problems are in the 1%.Remember with any given procedure each surgeon has a different success rate. They may give you the overall number for risk assessment but you also want to know if your surgeon is one who does better than average or one that does much worse than average. Ideally you want a doctor who does a lot of this particular surgery and does it well once it is clear surgery is needed.A lot of things cannot be fixed with cheap over the counter dietary supplements. I managed a condition I had recently fairly well that way (and we did eventually try some prescription medications) but ended up needing surgery. We waited as long as we could because for this problem going through menopause might cure it all by itself. Unfortunately mine got bad enough to need surgery before I got old enough for it to stop on its own. It was a fairly minor procedure but really the doctors were pushing for waiting it out as long as possible. I kinda wish I hadn't waited so long, but I think it was worth waiting to see if old age would reverse it before needing to pay a surgeon.Some things like IBS may reverse on their own so doing permanent things like surgery isn't the wisest option. However if you have something progressive like MS where the odds are very high things will stay the same or get worse sometimes that means doing something more aggressive to maintain the functioning of the body.K.


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

Stud Pile, The last thing I need is someone playing devil's advocate to me. I'm a well educated person and have done all my research. I deal with a chronic illness and I don't even take meds the doctor prescribes until I've done my research on it. If I'm emotional it is because the test results back up what I have known all along that I'm not crazy and the colon isn't working. There are some things only surgery will help, if not correct. Would you tell someone w/ Crohns to not get surgery? Do me a favor and go pee on someone else's parade. Kahtleen, I'm glad you are doing better.


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

I remember one military who had this done.I don't know why we haven't here from him since.I totally understand your situation,i hope the recovery will be easy.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

If I offended you then Im sorry. I did not intend to nor did I mean to berate surgery in general. That would be plain stupid. Some are nessesary - others not. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


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## Bustertb (Jul 6, 2007)

Thanks for the apology. I really appreciate it. You're a good person Stud Pile







(((HUGS))) Just to let you know, the sitz marker test left me not going to the bathroom 8 days b/c I couldn't take a laxative and now my abdomen is hurting pretty bad so I'm not the best person to be around right now. Any other time it probably would have rolled off me, but I'm in pain.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Just be careful with the playing "devil's advocate" thing. It is really easy to take that too far, and around here, generally, I find people have been through more wringer than necessary before ending up at a seemingly radical treatment much more often than not nearly enough testing and trial runs of standard remedies.Usually the people here who are at the point of surgery for a GI issue have been through all the usual easy things like magnesium or other osmotic laxatives. That is how you treat slow-transit constipation while waiting to see if it gets bad enough to need surgery. Some people are lucky and it stabilizes, but some people get bad enough there isn't any other option left, and at some point if you let it get as bad as it can get that leads to obstructions that requires serious medical intervention or you end up dead. I know there are some knife-happy surgeons out there, but usually they don't even consider something major like removing a whole organ until everything else is exhausted.From what was said all the testing that needs to be done has been done so I'm not sure why you went into "devil's advocate" mode. I agree that surgery just to have surgery doesn't make much sense, but this sort of surgery is really looked at when you are talking someone who is to the point where sooner or later something really bad will happen. There are other surgeries that do seem to be overdone, this doesn't seem to be one of them.







K.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

Bustertb,Thanks for cutting me some slack. Im on your side. It sounds like you have done your homework. From here on out its the luck of the draw. I'll keep my fingers crossed too.







Stud Pile.


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## 22395 (Apr 16, 2007)

BusterTB:This is the older lady with MS again. I'm wishing you the best with your upcoming surgery. Right now my biggest fear is ending up with a bag. I got your link to info on this, and it is reassuring - but, I still don't want a bag if at all possible. The misery index (which is pretty darn high right now) may end up being the deciding factor. I'm trying to do some biofeedback, but it's not going that great.I plan to keep checking back to see how you're doing with the upcoming surgery. You'll be in my thoughts.Evelyn


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## 16522 (Apr 6, 2005)

BustrTBAre you having a lot of pain right now? That is one of my biggest problems. My sitz marker showed the markers on the left side and the sigmoid colon. I also have pelvic floor dysfunction, but the tests showed my rectum is working, but I think the stool gets really hung up at the sigmoidand when I am constipated, I get urological symptoms like urinary frequency or hesitancy. I have the urge to go, but have trouble getting it out and I get horrible pain almost all the time, especially after a bowel movement or an enema. I think I also got addicted to senna type of laxatives by an accupunturist I was going to. I was told that I was a bad candidate for the surgery because the surgery would only help the constipation and not the pain. What were you told about this part? Now I'm also told that I might have a dysmotility of the small intestine. Did they do all the tests for the motility of your small intestine and the stomach? That is important.


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## 13863 (Mar 23, 2007)

Hope everything improves for you.I had that sitz marker test years ago & darn if I didn't pass that somehow. I have no clue how I did.I'm so desperate, I wish I could find out what is wrong with me & be done with it also.


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## ABNormal (May 24, 2006)

Busterb, good luck with the surgery. Gosh having MS and then the colon problems make me feel less sorry for myself. I am glad that you won't have a bag. That is really interesting.


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## Tanyas70 (Nov 14, 2007)

Did you have your surgery, and how did it go?I don't know about your prior history or symptoms, but I am currently dealing with chronic constipation. I have had one surgery so far to fix a twist in the colon which had then adhered to my abdominal wall. Unfortunately, I am still completely bound up. I live on Miralax cocktails and am currently in the middle of a 5-day sitz marker study. The doctor has mentioned the possibility of removing all or part of my colon which makes me very nervous.Hope all is well with you, please let me know how you made out.Thanks.


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## hadenuff29 (Sep 18, 2007)

good luck !my thoughts are with you for your op


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## mrnnthd (Nov 16, 2007)

Unless you have colon cancer you may want to have your thyroid tested as this causes many intestinal problems. Doctors notoriously do not test this. It causes all kinds of intestinal problems and just about everything else. Read mary shomans book"How to line 'well with hypothyroidism" and "Solved: The Riddle of Illness" I believe by Dr Langer. Also if their lab uses an upper level of 4- 5.5. these are to high. In 2003 the AACE (edocrinologist) recommended lowering this to 3 (still too high). People have symptoms at 1.5 and maybe lower. It takes years to undo damage that has been undiagnosed for a long time. Also make sure to have B12 level And Vit D checked. B12 anemia (the shots almost everybody gets) can cause heart attacks if allowed to get too low. Vit D causes osteoporosis and anorexia. Thyroid malfunction causes almost all mental disorders from irritability to myxedema maddness. You may have to go to an alternative practioner to get this tested. Make sure to get the TPO not just the TSH.There is a web site called Thyoid Top Docs but research, call, ask if they only treat the labs or if they also treat symptoms and find out cost. Research, research research. Go to thyroid chat rooms to hear all the misery this condition can cause. Hope this helps.


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