June 28th

I just marked my calendar, and she will have my full prayers that day.

Bless you all for your strength.

~Tammy

I was hoping that since you haven't been posting that maybe she was on the mend. So sorry it has come to this for her. But on to the positive side: she will get better now and she won't be sick anymore. Your little girl will get her life back. June 25th will be the two year mark of getting my life back. I can't believe it's been two years since my surgery.

Tons of prayers for your daughter, you and your family. Please keep us posted.

She will be in our prayers for sure. I am 9 weeks post take down and feeling better every day. I had a few bumps in the road myself. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope all goes well with her surgery.

Prayers and thoughts are with you and your daughter - the power of prayer is amazing. I will put her on our prayer list with my church so we can all pray for her. God bless.

Lots of good thoughts and healing prayers for your daughter. It will be a good thing when she is healthy and able to be a little girl again. Take care of you too.

good luck! Will be thinking of you and your daughter! Where are you having the surgery done?
Amy

I wish the best for you and your daughter. Good luck.

S
Good luck to you and your daughter. Hopefully she won't have any bumps along the way. It is all worth it in the end. You will have your little girl back. Will be thinking of you.

L

Several people had told me that this would be a "birthday" as a whole new, and better, life would begin. It was true.

Over the years, I've watched several young kids undergo a colectomy - some permanent, some temporary, and everyone of them had a much improved quality of life. And it happened quickly.

As a parent, my biggest adjustment was to find new things to focus my energy on, since my child's health was no longer running my life!

Thank you all. It is time, I was told I would know when I it's true. I just can't imagine continuing anymore. I pray I am making the best decision for her. She is a strong girl but this needs to end.
Amy, we'll be at Sick Kids in Toronto with the chief of surgery. We moved to this city in case we ever needed this surgeon so I don't feel I could do any better in that department.
Becky, I hope it's true in our case as well. I look forward to not knowing what to do with myself (don't know if that'll happen since I will hopefully have a healthy 6 year old and a 5 year old too - I hope I'm busier than ever doing all the things we should be doing actually!)
We don't know if it will be permanent or not yet, at this point we hope all goes well, they don't find CD and we move on with life with an ostomy and no major issues. That's our goal and if we achieve it we'll be very grateful.

And not everyone experiences road bumps. I hope that's exactly what you all get to experience - an absolutely smooth road.

kathy

It must be unbearable pressure having to make this kind of decision on behalf of a child. I am actually in awe just thinking about it and how I would feel if it were my kid. Plus, I have been there on the other side of it.

I had UC from age 9 and although no surgical decisions needed to be made until I was 29 years old, I recall the immense worry and pressure my parents felt as I bounced from one hospital to the next, 3 in total during the 4th grade. My parents are the kind of people that wear their emotions on their sleeves and during those multiple hospitalizations when I was a 9 year old, going through a lot of testing (because frankly the doctors back in 1972 did not know what was wrong and they did not have the same handle on UC as they do now), it wrought hell on my parents and especially my mother. I remember a doctor talking to my mother at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx NY, and seeing my mother collapse in my father's arms. I learned much later on, years later in fact, that the doctor told my mother they were going to be testing me for leukemia. I probably should not have had to see this, but I did, and my mental outlook seeing my mother like that was not good.

The most important advice I can give you as a parent of a child sufferer of UC: show nothing but strength and determination to your daughter in your face, in your body language, and in your voice, even if that is not what you are really feeling. You have to be a great actress, an Angelina Jolie or whomever your favorites actress is. Kids take their cues about how their mental outlook should be from their parents, and you need to be stronger than her so that she can follow your lead.

Good luck and keep us posted on how this goes.

I have followed your story for several years and I know that you have done everything for your daughter and researched this disease to the 10th degree. I am sorry she has to have surgery but I am hoping that in a couple of months both you will see the healthy daughter you have been missing. All my best to you.

Sue

Your daughter is a fighter. She has the wonderful support of caring parents. I've prayed for her everyday and will continue.
Good thoughts, prayers and hugs for a smooth and speedy recovery to good health!