Denise's Story

My name is Denise. I'm 19 years old from Brooklyn, New York. On September 13, 2005 I had surgery and received a temporary ileostomy. Since I had it I was never ashamed about it. I figured that having the bag was a whole lot better than developing cancer in the future. On my father's side of the family is a history of familial polyposis. I was diagnosed with this disease in 2003.

Although I didn't have colon cancer it was in the early stages and would have formed quickly if I didn't have a colectomy done. Since I was 14 years old I found that I had bleeding coming from my anal area. As soon as it became frequent enough I told my mother about it. She had a pretty good idea what it was. That day she called the doctor's office and made an appointment to get a colonoscopy done.

Within a week we went to the doctor's office and I had my very first colonoscopy. When we got the results we were told that polyps were seen but they weren't big or anything.

We held off for 2 years before I went back to the doctor at age 16 for another colonoscopy. This time the results were quite different. There were more polyps some bigger than others.

Finally when I was eighteen years old I had another colonoscopy and a CAT scan. This time my colonoscopy showed that there were even more polyps formed on my colon and some even bigger than before. My doctor had suggested that I have a colectomy as soon as possible. We waited a few months before setting a date for the surgery. Some polyps in my colon were tested for cancer and luckily came back non-cancerous. I was so happy.

The date of surgery was September 13th and I was very nervous. I didn't know what to expect or anything. My mother, me and the rest of my immediate family sat around a large round table in the doctor's office while he described the procedure. He told me that I was going to have a bag attached to my stomach and then within about 6 months it would be reversed.

The surgery was supposed to last anywhere from 4-6 hours but mine was a 9 hour surgery. When I awoke in the recovery room I had a tube down my throat that felt very uncomfortable. Finally the nurse took it out and I was able to talk. I wasn't in any type of pain at that moment.

The next day in the hospital my family came to visit me. I was in a lot of pain. But the morphine helped the pain and also made me fall asleep for a little while. I spent a total of 8 days in the hospital. Some days with the pain were better than others.

Eventually I started to walk and felt better and better each day. It takes some time getting used to. I lost a total of 21 pounds in the hospital and as of right now doing great. Each day it gets better and better. It becomes easier and having a stoma is fine sometimes I dont even notice that its there. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Im glad I have this stoma because it is much better than having colon cancer that's for sure. I received the date for my reversal which is going to be done on March 2, 2006. I'm sure that will go well too.

...Denise

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