College and crohns--success?

[kate62]

Hi. This is my first post with this forum. My son was diagnosed with Crohns at 15 and in 10 days, he will be moving into the dorms. He is currently on Remicade every 8 weeks and had his 3rd colonoscopy just this morning. What a journey! He was clean, except for several biopsied polyps---we will find out more about those later. Anyway, here's a nice success college situation....we live in a college town (one of the UC's in California where his dad works as a scientist). Our son's dorm is just 10 minutes from his dad's office where he can cook his own food in the lab. Fingers are crossed for crohn's healthy eating. Oh...since our kids can't drink alcohol, he will always be a designated driver (his big sister used him for that this summer with her girlfriends :0. Wish him luck! I will be sending my husband to work with food for my boy to pick up. Can't help it.

 

[DJW]

Hi Kate and welcome.

I successfully completed both college and university. I had to live healthy and manage my time well. No all nighters or last minute cram sessions.

 

[alex_chris]

Hey kate, hope it all works out for him. The changed situation surely may be a bit stressful for him. Is he doing a lot of sport? I know some people are skeptical about sport as a way to help with keeping in remission, but for me that always helped a lit both with stress relief and generally in managing Crohn's.

All the best for his start. I guess he'll end up still eating elsewhere but giving him the option to pick up homecooked food is definitely great.

 

[kate62]

Thanks for the advice! He moves in the dorm tomorrow and hasn't started a thing. Luckily for him, he's not a stressed out kind of guy. Hopefully, he will begin packing this afternoon I have already packed up the "food stuff"--can't help being a mom. He will be fine. As for sports, he skateboards pretty regularly. Also, luckily for him---Subway meatball sandwiches and cheeseburgers don't bother him a bit, and there's lots of that on campus. It's an extra bonus, though that he can get whatever he needs from home or cook in his dad's office on campus. Colonoscopy last week showed no active inflammation, so the remicade is working very well. It's all good.

 

[Justanothercp]

Having had it for a few years, hopefully he has had time to prepare and educate himself on what he needs to do to keep things in check. Sounds like a responsible young man who will do well. (having a Dad nearby doesn't hurt either ;-))

 

[syzygy]

It's great to hear when things are working out well for someone. Best of luck to him.

 

[nikimazur]

I successfully completed both undergrad, and graduate school with Crohn's, and am now working on my PhD. In total, I had to medically withdrawal from two semesters (at different times), but still managed to complete everything on time. I do always advocate forming a relationship with your school's office of/for disabilities. Starting that relationship before things occur really help (they can also advocate for you with professors and whatnot). Best of luck for your son!

 

[Tesscorm]

Best of luck to your son!! My son just started his second year of university and it's gone very well!

My son is a couple of hours away but I do regularly send lots of homemade foods (he's also lucky in that he can eat pretty much any food).

So far, he's been able to manage the stress level but, as he's been finding this year quite a bit tougher, I have reassured him that the option to drop one class is there, if necessary. He won't be the only student to ever drop a class and better to do that then bring on a flare.

To stay on top of his health, he does participate in two or three sports and drinks one to two Boost shakes each day. Typically, he replaces his breakfast with a shake (quicker and healthier than a fast food breakfast sandwich! ) and then he often has another in the evening (or whenever he's hungry but rushed). It reassures me that even when he has the inevitable 'junk food' days (hopefully, infrequently!! :lol, he's, at least, getting some nutrition from the shakes. They are also the 'back-up' plan if he's ever not feeling well - he can skip a meal or two and replace them with the shakes (which will be easier on the system).

Also, although he hasn't had the need to use the services, he did register with the disability office. Just a reassurance that help is on hand, should he ever need it.

Hope his success lasts a long time!!

 

[kate62]

This is a great forum and thanks for the support! So my son says the food situation is not the best, but he will figure it out. It's all about what he's comfortable eating and not to upset the apple cart. He says that as long as he gets there for breakfast, he can fill up on eggs. I already gave him a half-gallon of lactose free milk (he admitted he missed that already) but his dad had to give him styrofoam cups from work because he didn't want to be seen washing a cup in the bathroom! Being only 10 minutes away---well, I will get to give him food from time to time. He loves his room-mates and is making new friends, so I'm happy for him.

The biopsies from the polyps said "changes in colitis" and all else was normal. What does changes in colitis mean?

Thanks!

 

[Tesscorm]

Colitis means inflammation of the colon (and, I believe this usually refers to the large colon). -itis at the end of a word means inflammation of 'something' that is being referenced at the beginning of the word, ie colitis - inflammation of the colon, ileitis - inflammation of the ileum, tendonitis - inflammation of a tendon, etc).

Glad its all going well for him.

 

[kate62]

Thanks for the wonderful responses!

All is good. My son came home yesterday with 5 new friends from his dorm hall---all nice kids, a mix of boys and girls. My introvert quiet son is branching out and my "empty nest syndrome" couldn't be better . Being 10 minutes away has it's advantages! (his very outgoing sister is at university of hawaii) Remicade in 4 weeks, I think and he's figuring it out. Life goes on !