So far this space has been mostly about my ups and downs since my surgery. So I thought I would inject some of the facts. I had no education before this total colectomy. And I had very little afterwards, so most of what I post here is from my own learning. I am in no way a professional ostamy care provider. I did go through the first 2 quarters of LPN school and hope to use what I learned to give advice to anyone seeking it.

I never could understand why my polyps were never tested in the early stages of my illness.So many procedures had been done in the 3 1/2 years before the surgery was done.   The type of polyp I had:

Adenomas — These are benign polyps that are considered precursors (the first stage) of colon and rectal cancer. All cancers of the colon and rectum begin as adenomas, but few adenomas (only one or two out of 100) ever become malignant (cancerous). This process takes several years. When polyps are discovered during examination of the colon, doctors sometimes find it hard to tell which are precancerous and which are not.  Even among adenomas, it is impossible to tell which ones will become malignant.  For these reasons, all polyps in the colon and rectum are removed. You should follow your doctor's recommendations on how often to have colonoscopies in the future. Fortunately, through regular colorectal cancer screenings, colorectal cancer is preventable and curable, if detected early. ~exerpt from Cleveland Clinic   FAP occurs when a person is born with a mutation in a specific gene called the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene. People born with FAP are at nearly 100 percent risk of developing colon cancer if they do not undergo surgery. They also have an elevated risk of contracting certain other types of cancer. Among them are cancer of the small bowel (the part of the digestive tract located above the colon and rectum); cancer of the thyroid and cancer of the brain, as well as a rare form of childhood liver cancer. **People with FAP account for roughly one percent of all colon cancer cases. About 1 in every 8,000 people has FAP.

There are times that I truly wish that I had had genetic counseling before I ever had a child. But one thing I am thankful for now is the fact that my children have never known anything but "my ileostomy", "mommy's bag".  I have also been so blessed to have never had any serious problems since my surgery. Everything I have been faced with, I have overcome. But I know there are others out there who HAVE had serious problems. I am hoping that they will come here and share their trials.