I've had Crohn's since I was 9 (now 23) and its only in the past few months that I've been told to think about surgery for the first time.  I had a colonscopy in May 2010 and was told i have a large stricture in the ileum.  My symptoms had been getting worse towards the end of my final year of uni in 2009 and I was put on to Azathioprine in the september but symptoms did not improve.  Essentially the colonscopy consultant advised I should think about surgery but no-one has given me any information and I dont have a consultant appointment til mid august.  All I could gather from him was that they could probably remove the damaged section of bowel through keyhole surgery.  I have loads of questions about recovery time, complications and whether I can eat normally afterwards and its playing on my mind!  

I wondered if anyone else has had this procedure and whether they could give me any advice.  I'm due to start my masters degree in sept this year, so if i'm told I need surgery straight away I'm worried I will miss the start of my degree and have to drop out.  So, any advice or info would be greatly appreciated!  

Thanks

I think it depends what they find when they operate and how much of the bowel they remove. My experience is of having a hemi-colectomy (which is quite a length of bowel removal) and it took 8-10 weeks to fully recover - although I was eating normally within a week.  If you only have a small amount removed, I guess it should be much easier than this, but I don't really know.  Get googling! And, good luck with the surgery.

I've had 2 lots of surgery, both to remove damaged bowel, it wasn't done by Keyhole though, so my experience probably won't help you much. I spent 5 days in hosp, first couple days following surgery only able to sip clear fluids, until they are sure your bowel is working, it goes into a type of paralyses when its been operated on.
I then began to eat a light but pretty normal diet, following the surgery was the best I have felt, despite the discomfort from the surgery. I had no pain from my bowels, no bloatedness, no runny tummy. In my case it didn't last for very long, but I plod on and make the best of every day.
Good luck and stay positive.

When you say they found a stricture do you mean a restriction in the bowel? I saw mine when I had a small bowel enema. They operated and removed it but I've got it again right at the point where the small bowel meets the large. My medical consultant suggested a stent. This is performed through the back passage. No surgery! I didn't have it fitted in the end because it wasn't as bad as they thought. So I eat like a hamster now little and often.

Be wary of surgery!  From my experience its invasive surgery that they perform.I Could be wrong its probably about 15 years since I last had some.

Before my first operation I went armed to the teeth with books on surgical techniques for Crohn's. The consultant worried me when he took my notes to read.