If you are the praying type...

...I'd appreciate prayers for my appointment with a GI specialist on Tuesday, May 10th, to arrange my 5-yearly colonoscopy. I've chosen to see a guy who speaks some English, which may help (my wife sees him too). It's a nearly-but-not-quite routine appointment, as I need to talk to him about a discharge I've had from the residual anus for a little while. It could be 'something' or 'nothing.' Since I hate surgeries, please will any 'pray-ers' on here (I know you are there!) join me in praying that it proves to be 'nothing'?

Thank you, friends - I'll let you know how it goes.

Good luck, Chris. I'll do what I can.

With you all the way, Chris. I hope it all goes well for you, and the results won't be a cause for concern. Prayers?? Not in my usual remit (although Dad did do a little Methodist lay preaching in his time.)

Anyway, I'm sending you my very best wishes and thoughts, mixed with a little Pagan dancing around the Runes, and I'll chuck in a bit of Voodoo mumbo jumbo (Did you know that Idi Amin had his own private Mumbo Jumbo Jet?)

Good luck, Chris, and with any good fortune, your God will come up trumps on this occasion!!!!! Pete...

Hello Chris.

I don't have a god to pray to but I'll give you some serious thinking time and effort in the hope that this achieves the same end.

I hope all goes well for you.

Best wishes

Bill 

Hi Chris. I hope everything goes okay, and I will keep you in my prayers.

My Ostomy Journey: April | Hollister

Hi Chris. I don't ask for anything in prayer, but I do pray. I thank God for all I have and the ability to get a lot of stuff fixed. Sometimes, after a totally sucky day, I thank Him/Her for just surviving with the hope of a better tomorrow. I don't ask God for a better tomorrow because I feel like that's my job. God gave me tons of tools to do all kinds of things, and I can find other folks to do for me what I can't do for myself. I think God has so much on His/Her plate just trying to keep all those big boulders spinning in space without bumping into each other. God is letting us screw up this planet just like we can make it better. We worry about terrorists but allow our cities to fall apart physically, structurally, morally, and socially. We "allow" gangs and drugs to destroy the principles upon which great countries and their loyal citizens thrived. Now I'll try to get back to where I should be, and I apologize, Chris, for allowing myself to go nuts.

I'm thanking God for you having a doctor with whom you can communicate. I'm thanking God that your symptoms, as you describe them, don't seem like any cause for worry, and I'm thanking God especially for your faith that you'll be better because He/She will allow it.

With sincere respect,

Mike

Thank you, friends, for all these warm and varied responses!

The doctor seemed unperturbed by the symptoms I found so alarming - he said he'll 'take a look' when I have the colonoscopy itself and booked me in for a date five weeks away. The French health system is pretty good at responding when the need is urgent, so I guess I feel reassured by his total lack of panic. He is a great doctor, with an unfortunate name for his line of work: his surname is apparently also the French word for a 'skid mark'!

Hello ChrisP.

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds as if everything will be okay -- A 'skidmark' can tell you a lot about where you've been and where you're headed.

Best wishes

Bill

Dear all, well - Wednesday is my colonoscopy date at last, so prayers, etc., appreciated again. I'm feeling pretty well, but still have some blood where I shouldn't, so I shall be glad to know what is going on. Probably nothing really serious, but worth taking a look. My wife is more stressed than I am!

Hi Chris. Not sure you remember me. MMSH "introduced" us via the chat room a few weeks ago. I am the praying type, and I will most definitely say one for you! Blessings, and I know you will keep us posted!

Thank you! Good to hear from you - I wondered how you were doing!

Doing great... started irrigation last week, and so far I'm pleased... again, thanks to Mild Mannerd Super Hero... he helped me and walked me through the process step by step... he's one of many great supporters in this forum! Please let us know how you are! Blessings, Chris! :)

I send your way good wishes, prayers, and positive energy on your colonoscopy exam. It's a good thing to know what is going on.

Well, I'm home again and feeling more human after some decent food. No more jelly for a while, but it will take me weeks to recover from the ghastly experience of the hospital sandwich.

There was a lot of hanging around, but the actual colonoscopy was very straightforward. It included probably the shortest ever general anesthetic on record - I estimate no more than 2 minutes! Once they had looked at what's left of my 'natural exit' and taken some samples, I was then awake for the main event via the stoma.

The upshot is that I have some sort of inflammatory problem affecting a couple of localized areas - treatment will depend on what it is identified as being: possibly an infection. I will hear more in about ten days.

So thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Thanks for keeping us in the loop, Chris. Let's hope for a positive outcome. You're in my thoughts, and may your God go with you...

That sounds good, Chris. Something they can treat, hopefully quickly and easily! Blessings :) CH

Yes, amen and amen.

Well, I got back to the hospital today to get the results of my colonoscopy and samples.....

Apparently, I now have ulcerative colitis as well as everything else: my (isolated) rectum is fairly messy, and 10 cm of my colon from the stoma inwards is affected in the same way. I have a month's medication and an appointment to return in 6 weeks. I have spent the evening on Google.....

Hi Chris. Don't really know enough (about anything) to comment much on your prognosis, but I'm thinking you're in good hands and trusting the docs. Please don't whack yourself out with the internet. I probably spent too much time developing my own diagnosis but stopped when I understood I needed more of an education to understand what I was reading. I still think you'll be OK and, if you're not satisfied, press the docs for more answers.

You'll still get the prayers.

Mike

Glad to hear your visit was a short one. ~Keeping you in prayer for good results!

Well, I think the treatment for UC is nasty! Every morning I have to swallow two sachets of something with the texture of washing powder, while every evening the same drug in a different format has to be delivered 'from the other direction,' if you see what I mean! The doctor assured me this latter was medically necessary and was absolutely nothing to do with Britain voting to leave the European Union a few days earlier......

It's too early to say whether things are getting better, but on changing my stoma kit this morning, I found a split in my skin oozing blood, so it looks like I now have a fistula starting as well. Off to the doctor again tomorrow, and I expect more treatment to come. What a summer! 'Fed-Up, of France'

Wow Chris...you're going through a lot right now...I hope this will all line up for you very soon...blessings! :)

Hello Chris. Let's hope the nasty treatment works for you.

Best wishes

Bill

Wheeeeeeeee! It's not a fistula!

Have a nice day, people - I'm going to!

Great news Chris

Best wishes

Bill

Hey Chris, just thinking about you and all the crap the rest of France is going through. I'm praying harder now that all gets better for you and your countrymen and women. I better not forget to include the rest of us.

Sincerely,

Mike

Well, here we go again, I'm afraid!

Rosemary's diverticulitis has grumbled for a year and has now blown up. She had a week in the hospital after collapsing in pain: a scan showed 'something', probably an abscess, between the intestine and the uterus. She's been out again for a week, but pain is increasing again: she is taking maximum painkillers and is only comfortable lying flat in bed. I think we're going to be back in the hospital soon. She has a colonoscopy booked for next Monday, and there is talk of surgery afterwards.

Meanwhile, my ulcerative colitis, which was responding very slowly after months of treatment, relapsed badly ten days ago. (Stress? Or my cooking while she was in the hospital?) Serious pain took me to my GP, and an appointment with the specialist was brought forward to yesterday. An ultrasound exam showed nothing exciting apart from a cyst on one kidney. I've had this for years, but the doctor still got excited, referred me for a kidney function blood test, and a 'short colonoscopy' this Friday. The preparation for this that morning sounds ghastly - far worse than the 'real thing'. Meanwhile, the pain has gotten better - I think it may have been a partial blockage, probably made worse by dehydration - certainly 'things are moving' again.

So, I'm sitting here writing this, pondering whether I need to delay Friday's party for myself to avoid leaving her alone here for so long while she is barely well enough to stand. Life isn't great here at the moment, and thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated.

Oh my goodness, Chris... another series of ups and downs... twists and turns... I will keep both you and Rosemary close to my heart in the coming days... blessings for healing, and keep us posted! :) CH

Just an update - Rosemary was discharged from the hospital but is still in pain. She spent most of a week in bed on painkillers, then went back to our GP, who prescribed a mountain of antibiotics. Three days on, she is a little better and faces a colonoscopy on Monday. I am, by comparison, fairly well at the moment - I managed to dodge a colonoscopy today on the grounds that she was too ill to leave. And so the situation unfolds.....

I can only hope and wish for better things for you and your wife, Chris. Best wishes, Pete.