I would think the best colon and rectal surgeons in Colorado probably work out of the Denver area. I would highly recommend my surgeon. His name is Dr. Craig Brown. (http://www.surgone.com/DrBrown.html). He is an incredibly skilled surgeon and is a very kind and caring person. I cannot say enough good things about him. Honestly, I never get scared thinking about something going wrong with my ostomy anymore because I know that if it does, he is there to help me out. I trust him with my life. I wrote a blog post about him a while back.

http://ostomyoutdoors.com/2011/11/20/part-four-in-a-series-i-am-thankful-for-my-surgeon/

Best Wishes,
Heidi

Don’t feel bad about not trying Remicade or Humira. I think sometimes the medical world (and sometimes the people close to us) make us feel like we have to try every last ditch thing to save our colon… but there are some things that we may not want to try. These choices are such deeply personal decisions and hard to explain to others. You are the one who will be living with your choice so you must do the thing that most deeply resonates with YOU.

I had no interest in being on Remicade or Humira for the rest of my life and felt that surgery was a better option for me from the beginning. And my insurance would have covered the drugs. I basically only agreed to take about three infusions of Remicade in order to get myself out of a severe flare so I could be in better health for surgery. Turns out I had a horribly painful reaction to Remicade in my joints anyway and stopped after the first infusion. Still, as I mentioned, I had no intention of being on it long term and made that clear to my docs. I always felt that I would rather have an immune system than a colon:) It would have been different if I had Crohn’s with small intestine involvement and the meds were the only option possible for not be incredibly sick. However, with UC– I knew surgery would get my quality of life back and it has in every way that I could have ever hoped for.

I also had no interest in trying a j-pouch and wanted to go the permanent ileostomy route right away. I felt it better fit with my career and the sports I love. Plus I really didn’t want to go through more surgeries and miss more work. I just wanted to get on with my life and be free of anything remotely resembling UC. The permanent ileostomy seemed like the best way to get to that point and I wasn’t worried about having a bag on my abdomen for the rest of my life as long as I could still do the things I loved. Which I can! I am so happy with my decision. I explain my choice in greater detail in this post:

http://ostomyoutdoors.com/2011/10/17/permanent-ileostomy-or-j-pouch-that-was-the-question/

It is normal to feel sad and anxious. I was a nervous mess before surgery and during the initial months of recovery. Surgery is scary! Just take it day by day and keep leaning on the people in your life who are supportive. I would also recommend joining an ostomy support group (It looks like there is one in Colorado Springs). You don’t have to have an ostomy yet to go to these meetings. People who are facing surgery come to ostomy support meetings too. Oftentimes meeting someone in person who already has an ostomy can help alleviate many fears.

http://www.pikespeakostomy.com/

I am a pretty introverted person and can be somewhat shy in larger groups. I was a little intimidated to join my local ostomy support group at first… but I have met soooo many wonderful people there who have become dear friends. I can’t imagine not having the ostomy support group in my life.

Feel free to email me anytime too.

Thinking of you!

Take Care,
Heidi

Take care,
Heidi

I’m back to hiking here in Flagstaff, AZ and yesterday led a group to a 1944 plane wreck at ~11,000′ and then managed to make the saddle on the San Francisco Peaks-11,800′. Maybe next week I can do the top, (12,643′).

Anyways-I know you will make the summit of Rainier-what are the dates-I’ll pray that you have perfect weather for the climb.

Les