IBD

First, I'm 54 years old.  Here's an chronology of my problems:

June 2006 - emergency appendectomy; some repair on my colon had to be done

Sept 2006 - severe rectal bleeding; colonoscopy showed diverticulosis

Jan 2009 - balloon scope to check for fistulas; mentioned '06 divert. diagnosis - dr. tells me he sees no sign whatsoever of that

Nov 2010 - colonoscopy done because of ongoing rectal bleeding; no diagnosis

July 2011 - after experiencing pain and fever, severe enough to get me to the e.r., I was diagnosed (through symptoms and a CT at the e.r.) with colitis.  I went to see my family doctor (Dr. G) who, because of my symptoms, thought maybe I had Crohn's, so he decided to do a colonoscopy.
He couldn't make a definitive diagnosis, so I got a referral to a gastroenterologist (Dr. C) who decided to do his own colonoscopy.  Dr. C didn't find any signs of colitis but did find a large (pre-cancerous) polyp which he had to remove in pieces.  He didn't seem to think I had any form of IBD, but he wants me to have another colonoscopy next month to be certain the entire polyp is gone.  

I decided to watch my diet...have been careful about not eating the things that aggravate my system, yet I continue to have a bit of bleeding and for the last two weeks have been in pain again.  Although I don't have fever this time, I do have chest pain on the right side and some pain in my rib cage.

I'm not a whiner and can take pain.  I walked around with a burst appendix for a week until my gynecologist decided to do emergency surgery. I'm not "imagining" the pain.

Needless to say, I'm confused by the various diagnoses and very frustrated.  I simply want someone to tell me what's wrong and what I can do to take care of it.

[Kaneda2112]

Sorry to hear of your troubles and frustration. There's nothing worse than not getting a clear verdict on a problem like this.

I do know that diverticular disease can be nasty and painful in many cases. It seems prudent to have a follow up colonoscopy with Dr C to check the polyp out (although they tend to grow slowly) and see if there are any other issues.

If you do have diverticular pockets and attacks, I've read that Some "soothing foods" include:

    Broths
    Low-fiber breads
    Cooked vegetables
    Cooked fruits
    Apples

and foods that should be avoided are:

    Milk
    Yogurt
    Cheeses

But I'm not altogether certain that is the case.