Meeting the surgeon

Today I met the surgeon. It is a strange feeling having a rational conversation with the man who will cut your guts out. It was OK, and he even cracked a couple of jokes. So I felt a bit better.

So here's the hard information:

1 ) I am having a number of drugs such as Infliximab, Asacol, Thiamin etc. I am going to be carrying on with these until after the surgery.

2) I was concerned about my level of fitness, and I explained that I do about 1 hour of cardio vascular most days, and I am told that I am more than fit for the op. In fact many people who have this are in a pretty bad way. The good thing about being fit is that you get out quicker. That is what I want. In quick - out quick.

3) I'm also hoping to actually meet someone who has been through this surgery and I was assured that this would be possible soon. That will be really helpful I think.

4) I am warfarin as well, so this is going to have to be addressed before surgery.

5) I don't have to take bowel prep! Brilliant - I hate that stuff. It's like drinking cold sweat! Yeaach!

6) It is going to be open surgery. They will cut down between the stomach muscles - the ones that form a six pack if you have one. He said if it was him doing the op it would take about 1 hour. You get the op the day you go in and it takes about 6-7 days to get out. The fastest he ever saw was a woman who was running an aerobics course 1 week after the op. Wow!

7) They will take out most but not all of the Colon.

8) The position of the stoma depends on your lifestyle and your clothing. It is a bespoke scar just for you.

I hope this may help anyone else facing this experience. It really is a bit odd. If you too have UC I hope you live to be 100 and I sign off until I have more news.