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Facing IRA Surgery

Mon, February 08, 2016 3:03 PM

Good afternoon:

I'm a 55 year old guy that has been successfully managing Crohn's since bouncing back from 3 surgeries (perforations, temporary ileostomy and take-down reconnect) from 1979-1981. Life was pretty normal until 2014 when my gastro doc found areas of flat dysplasia in my transverse colon during a routine annual colonoscopy. He immediately recommended a total colectomy. I was able to push surgery off for a year but when he found that the flat dysplasia area had enlarged during my annual colonoscopy this past July, he told me to get a surgical consult, which I did.

The surgeon agreed with the total colectomy recommendation and told me that a permanent ileostomy would be the route to take if I wanted to avoid getting colon cancer. I opted to try a less invasive endomucosal resection/dissection procedure in October that failed so now I'm being told that I'm out of endoscopic options and surgery is all that's left. After a lot of discussion, the surgeon has agreed to do an ileorectal anastomosis (IRA) instead of a permanent ileostomy because I really don't want to go back to having an ileostomy if at all possible. The surgeon told me that a J-pouch is not an option for me since my Crohn's is mainly in the small intestine.

I'd really like to talk to someone who's had this specific IRA surgery as opposed to a J-pouch or an ileosigmoid procedure to see how it went for them and get a feel for their quality of life after surgery. I want to make sure that I'm making the right decision because there's no going back. I certainly don't want to get colon cancer but I'm worried that I'm opening up a Pandora's Box of problems by going ahead with this surgery. My surgery date is set for 03/11/16.

Any advice, experience or collective wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

dhartman
Joined Feb 8, 2016

Thu, April 07, 2016 4:11 PM

Hi there:

I underwent the dreaded colectomy surgery on March 11th and am currently recovering at home. I'm surprised at how quickly 'm bouncing back considering the extent of the surgery. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with a temporary ileostomy for 90 days so that's really been the biggest hassle but you just deal with what life throws at you.

My medications have been the same for over 35 years - Azulfadine (Sulfasalizine 500mg 2x daily) is really the only Crohn's drug that I've ever taken. I also take OTC folic acid as a kicker. It's supposed to help with the effectiveness of the Azulfadine.

dhartman
Joined Feb 8, 2016

Thu, April 07, 2016 4:03 PM

Reply posted for dhartman.

Dave ~ ~ Your message was posted a while ago - maybe your problem has been resolved, I hope so. My question is What medicine are you on?
I had similar timeline of my disease - I am 60 female - diagnosed age 24.
I had years of remission 3 surgeries - -
I am now on Cimzia (2 years) - feeling the best i have in years and all the talk of more surgeries has stopped.
Good Luck!

nanacandy05yaho
Joined Apr 7, 2016

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