draegs

Reading other people's stories helped me out a lot during my surgeries. Part of the reason why I decided to try a IAMA. Hope you have a quick and successful recovery!

I wish!!! I'm always up for a good pun.

I can provide photos showing my stomach area after my first surgery and two years after my last surgery (warning slightly graphic): http://imgur.com/a/w5Xdy

Yes and no. Life certainly isn't the same as it was prior to being diagnosed, but once you have lived a certain way long enough that becomes what you see as "normal." I now make 7-8 bathroom trips each day. Many of which are in public places, but I choose where and when I want to go. When sick with Ulcerative Colitis I sometimes had 1-2 minutes to find a bathroom when I had the urge to go. I now have very few (self-imposed) dietary restrictions, whereas when I was sick I could only eat a handful of foods.

Correct. That's what's called a "loop ileostomy" that I wore a bag over during the surgery process.