Hello, all!

My mom (TrishD) found this forum and said I ought to join, as well. So here I am! A third-generation genetic defect, and back to a 97% normal life (the only exceptions being frequency and gurgles).

I guess I should start off with my age. I just turned 22 last month. I was diagnosed by colonoscopy December 2013 and had my surgery last January. Being diagnosed wasn't particularly difficult for me, since my mom had her surgery when I was three, so I grew up seeing and knowing that she leads a normal life. AND she's a flight attendant, so I knew I'd get to the point where I could stand/walk/work for long periods of time and NOT need to rush to a bathroom after an hour or two.

I had a minor complication in surgery; they pierced my bladder, but not so badly that it couldn't heal itself in less than a week. Still, after eight days in the hospital, I went home with the catheter and JP. I had them removed about two weeks later, and haven't had any withstanding complications since.

I would say I'm fully recovered, but I'm mostly judging based on my weight. I went in at ~117 and left at 95 lbs. I know that the colon can weigh between five and seven pounds, but I still lost way more weight than I'd like, and I've been gaining it back rather steadily! It helps that my college (just transferred) has a student recreation center, and it has more options for working out and leading a healthy lifestyle than the gyms I used to go to.

So that's it in a nutshell! I tried to keep this brief, but I'm always wordy.