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Advice for newbie!

Hi everyone, we are new here.

Just posting this about my wife really. She was diagnosed with severe terminal ileal Crohn's just under a year ago but obviously has had milder symptoms for years previously that was attributed to IBS.she didnt respond to any medication at hospital. After around 6 months of inflixximab infusions she was readmitted and had a bowel resection around 2 months ago to remove a large stricture. Surgeon seemed quite upbeat at the time and said the Crohn's may not reoccur.

Since the op, the pain has definately decreased but the persistent emergency toilet trips havent and when she went for a follow up the surgeon did say that portion of removed bowel showed very active Crohn's and explained that Crohn's is a lifelong condition. She's waiting for a follow up now with the consultant but just wondered what other peoples experiences are and if the Crohn's is likely to or has come back!

Appreciate any responses!

thankyou
 
I was told it Crohn's was a lifelong, chronic condition and that, while it can go into remission, it can also flare up.

I was in remission for about 2 years. Last March, I started flaring again and am now back on medicine.
 
Crohn's does usually recur after resection but the length of remission achieved by surgery, if all the active disease is removed, varies from person to person

This medscape article says "Of the patients who undergo intestinal surgical resection, up to 90% exhibit evidence of endoscopic Crohn's recurrence within 1 year of surgery... A total of 30% of patients manifest in symptomatic clinical recurrence at 3 years, 50% at 5 years and 60% at 10 years postintestinal resection"

But according to the same article "Recurrence of disease may occur as early as 7 days after surgery"

So I think the important question is does you wife have a recurrence of active disease? And that can only be determined by testing and imaging. Does she have an appointment with her consultant gastroenterologist soon? Because I think it is important that they look to determine whether she has active disease that needs treating and if the answer is yes start treating that as quickly as possible. And even if the answer is that there's currently no active disease (the frequent bms might still be her gut adjusting after surgery) your wife might like to discuss with her doctor whether she wants to be on medication to attempt to prevent or delay a recurrence.
 
Diarrhea caused by Bile Acid Malabsorption is one possible consequence of a terminal ileum resection - that could be what's going on.

I seem to be okay after 8 months. I have a colonscopy scheduled for the anniversary of my surgery to see if anything is happening again.
 
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