colectomy and psc

[Guest guest]

Hi all - I haven't posted on the site in a long time, but read the

messages frequently. I know many of you have had ulcerative colitis

in your past and some have had colectomies. Greg had an area of high

dysplasia in his colon discovered at the last colonoscopy and his

gastroenterologist recommended having his colon out (based on his

history of 30 years of ulcerative colitis with many benign polyps).

After a second opinion, he met with a liver transplant team of

doctors - gastroenterologist, psc specialist, transplant surgeon and

colon surgeon, and transplant coordinator. He has been placed on the

list for a liver in the event his liver fails during the surgery to

remove his colon. This is not really anticipated, however, since his

liver has been doing very well.

My question is - has anyone of you with psc developed pre-cancerous

changes in your colon and had the pouch operation rather than the

ileostomy? Greg has been told he can have that done, but they aren't

recommending it because people with psc have an extremely high chance

of having pouchitis. The psc specialist said he has seen many people

suffer horribly with pouchitis, but only Greg can decide if he wants

to take that chance. He doesn't know what to do and has to tell the

surgeon this week which operation he wants. Any input of your

experiences would be helpful. Also- has colon removal affected the

status of your psc (accelerated or slowed it down)? Thanks, Lois