UOAA Discussion Board

Hi I am having surgery in couple of months and need to make a decision between having all of my large intestine removed or just the part that is damaged at the moment and I would love any advice/opinions for those who have had these types of surgeries or had to make this choice?
I have to have my rectum removed because I have a complicated anal fissula that can't be fixed due to that it looks like a tree. The surgeon recommends removing the entire lg intestine because he thinks I will be back with in a couple of years to remove the rest. This is because when I was first diagnosed I had severe ulcers throughout my entire large intestine and the disease was through out all of it, so I have a very high chance of it returning in that section even though it is healthy and has been since 2009.
Any thoughts or advice or personal stories would be great?
Thank you

Hi Babs i,ve had an ilieo. for 30 some years, i was dx with ulcerative colitis so i had an ilieostomy with rectum removed at the same time, i was given the option of an internal J pouch or full colectomy surgery which i chose as the doctor and surgeon said i would probably have issues down the road which i had and they resulted in me having resection surgery 3yr. ago with a new dx of crohns disease. I,m glad i had the surgery originally but it has,nt been easy, i,ve had blockages due to crohns causing scar tissue and was hospitalised to clear them but all in all i,ve been able to live my life and do the things i wanted to do.