Crohn's FREE!

[electricdrifter]

So i had a bowel resection removing my ileum and cecum with the appendix after developing a fistula between the ileum and sigmoid colon. Thinking that i had the worst possible case of crohns disease going into the surgery i was ready to deal with this for the rest of my life, i was diagnosed 9 years ago with Crohn's. After the surgery my surgeon told me he doesn't think that i have Crohn's and that it might be my appendix as my mesentary and rest of bowel was normal. 5 days later i got a pathology report back which tested the entire 1 foot of my intestines 8 times and was inconclusive with Crohn's or cancer. So now i no longer have Crohn's and am being told it was my appendix the whole time, surgeon believes i had a small hole or chronic recurring inflammation that eventually made the appendix rupture causing the fistula. Anyone else have anything like this happen or know of this?

Now i am total fine i am a few months post op and gaining weight! i have put on weight like crazy which is something that i could never do before this surgery with the "Crohn's". I have no pain and no sick feelings at all. i do have urgent diarrhea which i am told is because the bowels are recovering form the surgery.

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Congrats! Glad to hear you're doing so well!!! Hopefully all continues to go well for you now. Take care!

 

[upsetmom]

Glad to hear your doing well.

Out of curiosity how were you diagnosed with crohn's 9 years ago?

 

[Layla]

Congratulations!
I think we all hope that we've been misdiagnosed at some point so good to hear it does happen!

 

[UnXmas]

I would have thought the diarrhoea should have stopped by now, it should take a couple of months for the bowel to recover. Or does that only apply to certain surgeries?

 

[24601]

I think for some people things can take longer to settle after surgery and 1 ft of intestine is a reasonable amount to remove such that it might take your gut some time to adapt. It's worth considering down the line though if the diarrhea continues that you might have issues with bile acid malabsorption. I'm waiting to see if my gut adapts after my last surgery and my doctors said to allow up to two years (!) to see if my gut learns to do its job differently in its new shortened state. It's not right now a major problem for me though so I'm okay with not taking action sooner but I understand that it might be right for some people to start meds for that earlier.

Also anyone missing an ileocecal valve is more vulnerable to Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth so that's something to keep an eye out for.

So happy for you to be Crohn's free, electricdrifter! Hope you continue to get healthier!

 

[Jennifer]

Anyone who's had their ileocecal valve removed may deal with diarrhea for life but it's not true in every case. With the cecum removed they no longer have the valve. Mine was removed as well but I'm not sure how long it took for the diarrhea to stop.

Very good news electricdrifter.

 

[electricdrifter]

I was diagnosed by a colonoscopy actually several. They all showed swelling in areas where crhons is likely

 

[D Bergy]

I had my Ileocecal valve removed and it was rough for quite a while. I was still flared so even the cholestyramine I was prescribed didn't slow up the output. I literally only had a minute or two before I had to find a bathroom.

Once I eliminated the flare, things improved dramatically.
It is to the point now that I don't use cholestyramine on a regular basis. I will use it on long trips, more for convenience than any worry about accidents.

I will never be 100% normal in this respect, but it is just a minor nuisance now.

Dan