Let’s start by discussing bowel movements. I am interested in learning more about the ways ulcerative colitis affects your bowel health. We’ll start by talking about bowel movement frequency. How many bowel movements do you have in a day? How do you define a bowel movement? How do you define normal?
When do you typically have your bowel movements? Are there differences depending on the time of day? In the morning? At night?
There are many ways to describe the consistency of your bowel movements –everything from small hard lumps, long or bumpy sausages, like jelly, or something more watery and not really solid at all. What kinds of bowel movements do you have? Do they change when your ulcerative colitis is active? What words do you use to describe them? Which of these is most troublesome to you?
Sometimes people pass mucus or blood in their stool. Do you ever notice when this happens to you? (Probe: How can you tell? Do you stop to examine your bowel movements? When and why?) Does this occur when you are more ill?
So far, we’ve concentrated our discussion on your bowel movements. But ulcerative colitis can cause other symptoms and health problems. What other problems do you experience because of your ulcerative colitis? (Probe: Listen for cramping, abdominal pain, changes in bowel movements/function at night, fever, fatigue, nausea, appetite changes, etc.)
When you are experiencing problems because of your ulcerative colitis, how does this affect your ability to engage in daily activities, like work, taking care of your family, household responsibilities, or social/recreational activities?
What symptoms change when your ulcerative colitis flares? What happens early on, and warns you that a flare is starting? What kinds of things only happen when you are really sick? What things occur and consistently increase as you get sicker?
In your experience, does the appearance of the inside of your colon at endoscopy make a difference in the assessment of the activity of your ulcerative colitis? Does the endoscopic appearance usually match up with your symptoms, or is it better or worse than you would have expected?
Are there any issues in disease activity in ulcerative colitis that we have not brought up, but that you think are important for us to know about?
