Any advice fistula

[Palladius]

Hi again

Just had sigmoidoscope diagnosed with ulcerative colitis,

Severe distal proctitis

Diverticulitis

Diverticulosis

Pres 100 mg iv steroid 3 times day and predsol enema bd and pentasa 500 bd

Does anyone know if it is always surgery for fistulas ,still wsiting on ct abdo results

Thanks in advance

[SORRELHIPPO]

I have Crohn's and over the years had many (what I thought of as drainage abcesses) twice these caused fistulas ending at the outside world!! These two were dealt with surgically, followed by period of pack dressing to ensure they healed from inside to out, in order to reduce the likelyhood of happening again in the same place. However the last one was over 10 years ago, so maybe things have altered since then. Good Luck for the future.

[Palladius in reply to SORRELHIPPO]

Thank you for your reply ,im hoping they are settling with the iv anti biotics .im on day 6 in hosp now on iv steroids and pentasa,

Being worked up for infliximab

My liver is struggling and my chest pain has worsened with my low potassium ,is this all par for the course guys??

Think i wud just like a bowel removal or is that wrong to say

[SORRELHIPPO in reply to Palladius]

I di not think there is a right or wrong thing to feel or say. When I was told 30 odd years ago I would never work again because of the Crohn's I begged for a Colostomy, I said I would rather have 10 years more of work, and a shorter life span,"they" the doctors, said no I was too young. What I got, eventually, was 6 years not working, 15 years working part time and retirement at 56. since then (the last 10 years) very resticted lifestyle. and still have all my (very damaged now) bowel. The doctors are happy because they see it as a "good" result. When I am feeling down, I would be happy if I had had the extra 10 years work and maybe not being here now, the rest of the time I am glad I did not miss all the experiences I have had with the time I have had. With all your probs at the present, and no doubt fatigue from pain/vitamin and mineral depletion etc, it would not be surprising if you were down. I had some CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), to help me come to terms with the life I had expected, compared to the life I ended up with. I found this very useful. Good luck for the future.

[Palladius in reply to SORRELHIPPO]

Thanks for that

Believe it or not im not too down im tryin to remain positive ,yoga etc despite my fatigue, palps etc cos im reading everywhere re the importance of being positive

Thank you for replying and sharing your experiences its nice to know ur not alone with this deal x

Ta