I met with my favorite surgeon today for a "second" opinion.
First He shared with me the results of my latest sitz marker study. The radiologist report stated "minimal to no movement after day one" and re-confirmed my diagnosis of"colonic inerita" for the third time. By the way we took xrays until day 7 and stopped there because they had moved so very little. I can tell you that those markers could easily stay on their vacation in my colon for the next month!! All doctors have told me that I have colonic inertia and this surgeon described it as an "atonic colon".
Next he discussed all the tests that I have had done, diets I have tried, and medications tried. He stated that I have had an extensive amount of tests run and have been really put through the ringer with the massive amounts of testing. He stated that my doctors have done a very good job of ruling out ALL other possibilities (they have tested every organ in my abdomen and checked for problems in my entire body). He even said that I had more testing than necessary to confirm this diagnosis!
He stated that with all my tests, things I have tried and the sitz mark study that he is 100% positive that surgery is my ONLY option.
I asked him about an ileostomy (as the 1st surgeon had suggested an ileostomy as an option) to make sure that removing the colon will relieve my symptoms. He said that there is NO reason to do that because the tests show "without a doubt" that the rest of my body is "working excellent" and that my colon has stopped working.
He explained that I am the "ideal candidate for a total colectomy with with ileorectal anastomosis" because of how healthy all my other organs are and that I passed all of the outlet tests very well.
We discussed post-op recovery and life after. Looks like I will need to stay in the Hospital for 3 to 5 days, and recover at home for 3 to 6 more weeks after that.
We go back to the colorectal surgeon recommended by my GI who specialises in treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction and outlet problems (she did all my testing for these issues, that thankfully I'm free of) next week to hear her opinion after the latest sitz marker study.
Then we will be deciding on a surgeon and setting a date.
I'm so scared for surgery, the pain mostly. But surgery is what it's going to take to get me on the path to recovery then I'm going to "man up" and dot it.