Always seek a second opinion

[jeno]

always seek a second opinion

Hi all, my name is Jennifer and I am 28 years old and I am in the process of receiving a crohns diagnosis. I say process because I live in Canada and our helthcare system is beyond slow, it took six months just to see a specialist (i saw him last month) and it will be another four months before I can get in for a scope. Based on my symptoms and the inflamation visible on my stomach xrays, the specialist is pretty sure it's crohns.

I have been suffering with severe pain in my stomach acompanied by frequent bathroom trips, fatigue, joint pain, eye pain and large mouth ulcers as well as a host of other "unrelated" symptoms on and off for about six years. I have been told by different doctors that my symptoms are anywhere from normal to psycosomatic.

I had a baby girl about 11 months ago, I was ill my entire pregnancy and my daughter was born three months early via emergancy c-section. I had extreme abdominal pain and was so weak I could hardly get out of bed, I repeatedly told my doctor that I was very ill and that there was something wrong, but she insisted that I was just having normal pregnancy pains. I went into emerg. with pain so bad I could hardly stand up. They put me on a fetal heart monitor and discovered that the baby was in distress. that morning my daughter was born at 2 pounds 6 oz at 27 weeks gestation, they never could figure out what was wrong with me. She almost died, I will never forgive myself for not listening to my body and getting a second opinion, if I had seen another doctor she may have made it full term.

A few months ago I began passing large ammounts of blood with my stools and became so weak I could hardly stand. I was having fainting spells and it was discovered that I also had a heart arrythmia. I saw a doctor who ignored me and tryed to put me on antidepressants, so I found another doctor who actually listened to me and i was able to get a refferal to a specialist. I'm hoping to finally get some treatment soon.

 

[ChefShazzy]

Hi Jennifer, and welcome. Sorry to hear of your ordeal! It's true, there can be a long wait to see a specialist, but in a case where you are passing out, passing blood, and in a lot of pain, you should definitely go to the ER. That's how I was diagnosed, I presented to the ER with pain, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and they made sure I saw a GI right away who did a scope and had me diagnosed within a week.

Hope all is well with you and your little girl in the future, best of luck.

 

[xJillx]

Hi Jennifer and welcome! Don't beat yourself up over not seeking another opinion. However, just live and learn and trust your body. The important thing is you now found a doctor who hears your concerns and you are on the road to getting answers.

As you said, it sure does sound like Crohn's. If you are diagnosed, you will be able to start treatment and hopefully start to feel better soon. If only you could get that scope sooner! Hang in there!

 

[jeno]

Hi Jennifer, and welcome. Sorry to hear of your ordeal! It's true, there can be a long wait to see a specialist, but in a case where you are passing out, passing blood, and in a lot of pain, you should definitely go to the ER. That's how I was diagnosed, I presented to the ER with pain, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and they made sure I saw a GI right away who did a scope and had me diagnosed within a week.

Hope all is well with you and your little girl in the future, best of luck.

I did go to the ER after fainting a couple times, and they just checked for anemia and checked my BP. The ER dock discovered a heart arrythmia, but said there was nothing he could do about it and to go see my GP. I also went to ER after passing about a cup of blood, they checked me for hemmorriods (found none) and checked my iron, then told me to go see my GP because they had no beds and I hadn't lost enough blood to be considered an emergancy.