Why would patients with permanent colostomies be happier than patients with temporary colostomies?
Let's look at patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), an inflammatory disease of the colon that can require temporary or permanent colostomy at some point in their illness.
Patients who require a temporary colostomy often need this procedure to get them through a flare-up of ulcerative colitis that can't be managed with medications alone. Patients who require a permanent colostomy often have every inch of colon removed because their colitis can no longer be controlled with medications and/or their risk of colon cancer is very high.
The temporary colostomy patients have hopes of (1) of being reconnected and (2) treatments becoming available that both cure them and allow them to keep their colon. But the positive feelings associated with these hopes may be outweighed by their negative feelings associated the inconvenience and embarrassment of their colostomy and their persistent anxieties about their future health.
In contrast, the total colectomy patients lose all the positive feelings associated with hope of being reconnected and new treatments becoming available in time. But the negative feelings associated with losing these hopes as well as with living with a colostomy may be outweighed by the positive feelings of relief associated with eliminating the cause of their colitis and their risk of colon cancer.
In this example, it may not be their loss of hope, but rather their relief about their future health that liberates them to move on, which leads to their happiness.
Comments