Have any of you seen your colon after the removal? It would be interesting to see what a diseased colon looks like. Then again maybe it wouldn't be so interesting. Just wondering-----------Thanks Leftie

Some poor soul had the job of researching my colon at U of P ,I had to sign a release,I told the guy that he should really try to advance from butts to at least hearts if not brains,shoot for the stars,but get out of a***** Ed

Since my son was 12 when he had his surgery last year, I asked the surgeon for pictures. I wanted him to be able to understand (without question) why he had to have this surgery. My son has FAP and had only minor symptoms. The pictures were amazing. The doctor said that he had over 10,000 polyps. There was not a centimeter that was not affected. Needless to say, the pictures did the trick and will in the future should he ever question our decisions.

I have pictures of my son's colon somewhere. He has uc. I remember they we're pretty gross. Lots of nasty looking spots.

didn't see the actual colon but was shown pictures of the ulcers and it was nasty. I don't have the pictures, but I wouldn't want them anyway. Just glad that it's out and I am feeling like a real person again!

I also saw pictures and could really appreciate the pain I was in after I saw them. It put pain in a whole different category!

I don't guess I could see pictures since my colon exploded (ruptured) inside. They did tell me that they sent pieces of it to the Cleveland Clinic and somewhere in Canada to do some major investigating to determine exactly which disease I had/ have.
So I never got to see mine. Plus, my surgery was emergency surgery at 1 am; the hallways were pitch black and only a few people were there. I assume no one was around to think of taking pictures. Where is my colon now? Probably in a jar somewhere being used at the university hospital.

I had my surgery done at Johns Hopkins which is a learning hospital. I'm sure there's pictures, maybe some video too. I would love to see them if I could. I wonder if I could ask them about that.

Mine was sent to pathology like most - so I never saw it. My surgeon said it was the strangest looking thing. I had historically had right sided colitis (with a few flares that affected all of it), and the last flare was a doozy. She said the left side vs. the right side made the pathologist think they were from two different people. She described the left side as looking like a cat had scratched up the inside of it.

I know exactly where my poor large bowel went, in fact I will show you the exact report on it way back from 7-20-98. This is the report from the Dr that examined it, luckily I am able to find all the information from all my surgeries at the hospital website, password protected of course.

SPECIMEN SUBMITTED: COLON & RECTUM/tk.



Procedure date Tissue received Report Date Diagnosed by
07/20/1998 07/20/1998 07/27/1998 DR. T. KWAN/mcw
Previous biopsies: 98-44616M COLON BIOPSIES/lb.



DIAGNOSIS:

I. Ileo-colectomy: Diffuse, chronic active enteritis involving
colon, appendix and ileum, including the resection margins.

II. Rectum: Chronic active colitis.

III. Mucosal donuts: Chronic active enteritis involving ileas and
colonic mucosa.

Note: No dysplasia or granulomas are identified.



GROSS:
CLINICAL: Ulcerative colitis.

The specimen is received in three parts.

Part one, received fresh, labelled "colon" consists of an ileocolectomy
specimen with the following dimensions. The colon measures 79 cm in
length, 5 cm in circumference at its distal margin, and 9.5 cm in
circumference in the cecum. The attached appendix measures 9 cm in
length and 0.6 cm in average circumference. The ileal stump measures 2
cm in length and 4 cm in circumference at its stapled margin. The ileal
mucosa is grossly unremarkable. The colonic mucosa is diffusely
erythematous and hemorrhagic with cobblestoning. No areas of discrete
ulceration and no masses are identified. There is also an attached
segment of omentum, measuring 20.5 cm x 18 x up to 2.5 cm. The specimen
is represented as follows:

A = margins
B = ileocecal valve
C = appendix
D-K = representative sections of colonic mucosa from cecum to distal
margin at 10 cm intervals
L = omentum

Part two, received in formalin, labelled "rectum" consists of a segment
of colon, measuring 11.5 cm in length and 6.5 cm in average
circumference. A portion of mucosa measuring 6 cm in length is
diffusely erythematous and atrophic. The specimen is represented with
the margins in M and intervening mucosa in N.

Part three, received in formalin, labelled "proximal donuts" consists of
two mucosal donuts, measuring 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.7 cm each, both represented
in O.

SPECIMEN SUBMITTED: RT MIDDLE LOBE LESION/jh/bw.



Procedure date Tissue received Report Date Diagnosed by
03/01/2002 03/01/2002 03/06/2002 DR. J. HECHT/ew
Previous biopsies: 98-46172M DUODENAL BX/mu.
98-44816M COLON & RECTUM/tk.
98-44616M COLON BIOPSIES/lb.



DIAGNOSIS:

Right middle lobe lung, wedge section (A-f):


Sclerosing hemangioma.

Case discussed with Dr. Kocher.



GROSS:
CLINICAL: Right middle lobe mass.


Specimen is received fresh labeled "middle lobe
lesion right" and consists of a wedge resection of lung measuring 6.2 x
2.8 x 2.2 cm. There is a row of staples measuring 8.6 cm in total,
which denotes the surgical margins. The pleural surface is inked and
the specimen is serially sectioned to reveal a firm, well-defined,
rounded, white mass measuring 2.1 x 1.8 x 1.6 cm, located immediately
adjacent to the stapled resection line and grossly abutting but not
distorting the overlying pleura. The nodule has white and yellow
speckled cut surfaces with focal areas of dense calcifications. Toward
one side of the nodule, there appears to be a distinct red-blue nodule
within the larger nodule measuring 1.3 x 1.0 x 0.8 cm. The specimen is
represented as follows:

A = stapled resection margins
B-E = mass
F = grossly uninvolved lung



Not really sure what all this means, but doesnt sound too good. Scott Mc

Sorry, I threw in the lung surgery diagnosis too. Dont you just love being operated on?

Someone, not too long ago got to see their colon after surgery. I'll try to find the post.

Found it...
colon pics

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cataja,

I've seen pics of diseased colons on the web.. YUK!! Very nasty to look at. Blah!

I jokingly asked my doctor of I could have my colon stuffed by a taxidermist and then I would proudly display it on the mantle above the fireplace... You should have heard him laugh !!

When I finally agreed to this surgery I asked my surgeon if there was a video of the procedure I'd be undergoing. He looked at me as though I was crazy and handed me a rather benign written pamphlet with a broad description of the surgery. Not really what I wanted. So, I ran a search on Google, I think, and read a blow by blow description of the surgery performed at a hospital in Scotland. Very interesting.

There's an amazing museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Mutter Medical Museum, and they have a huge colon (don't know how they preserved it) in a big glass display case, from a man whose colon became distended, but from what cause I can't remember. The thing has to be about 7 feet long and in places it's easily a foot across. Disgusting! And it's featured on one of the postcards they sell in the gift shop. Wish I had a copy of it to post.

Ugh...

P.S. - Found it: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/PAPHImut.html