Help with Ulcerative Colitis?

Question

My sister has had Ulcerative Colitis for about 10 years now. It is causing her a great deal of pain and distress at the moment. The doctor is now recommending surgery to remove part of her bowel. Obviously she is feeling very low, lacking energy (low iron) and generally awful. I feel completely useless and would like to help. She has two very active children which make life hectic too.

Any recommendations re diet, medication, alternative medicine, relaxation, help with s*x - all appreciated.

Answer 1

i'm sure you can find a lot from this health care show

http://www.camexpo.co.uk/camexpo2008/pub...

also have a look at some other health care tips:

http://healthy-step.com

Answer 2

I have worked in the Operating Room with UC patients.  Our GI department head is a world reknown UC and Crohn's surgeon.  He gave us a presentation of the miseries of UC.  My advice to her is to have the surgery.  Our doc tells us that even when his patients end up with temporary colostomies(they come back and get it reversed most of the time), they are much happier than before the surgery.  He's said that a few of them are so happy that they didn't even bother to get their ostomies reversed.

Once the bad tissue is removed, it takes about a year to feel completely healed.  I have had a colectomy for other reasons, and I can tell you that the day my colon was removed was the best day of my life.  It had literally been poisoning me for I don't know how long.

The biggest challenge at first, is finding out what you can or cannot eat.  Food will pass through your small bowel pretty fast, so it takes time to figure that out.  However, you start getting better all over very quickly.  It amazed me, once most of the immediate recovery from surgery was over- I felt better.

The surgeon she should see is Mark Koruda, at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC.  He's an amazing surgeon who takes great care of his patients.  People come from all over the place to have him do their surgeries.  If your sister can't leave the area, then contacting Dr Koruda may help her find the best local doctor for her.  He knows alot of people and has trained a lot of great GI surgeons.

Answer 3

That is a really terrible disease. I had only one severe bout of it when I was about 21 but I was hospitalised for it and still suffer great discomfort.

It's a really tough one to treat. I have been lucky not to have any further flare ups. I hear that accupuncture is very good all round but it only seems to be effective while you are having the treatment.

I wish your sister all the best.