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Diagnosed W/CD July 2012

Hello fellow CD's and IBS fighters. My name is Cris and I am 24 yrs old. This is my first time posting in a forum about Crohn's disease. I chose to post here because this site looks like a wonderful and supportive community.
I was officially diagnosed with Crohn's disease in July of 2012. The first two months was the roughest for me because I was in and out the hospital multiple times. The first time I went to the hospital I was told my disease was mild and that I did not require any surgery and was prescribed pentasa and some steroid medications. One week later I ended up back in the hospital and my disease was upgraded from mild to serious. The surgeons didn't want to perform any surgery because they believed it would only cure my disease for a short period of time and that Crohn's usually comes back in another part of the intestines. So my doctors strongly suggested that I start getting infusions and placed me on remicade which I had strong reservations for because of the likely hood of getting leukemia or some sort of cancer. I decided to go through with it and received three infusions before my health providers refused to pay my bills and now I am stuck without any medication and a $24000 bill that I cant afford to pay. I've been off medication for 3 months now and haven't had any problems yet except some minor cramps. I am scared that I will end up back in the hospital again so I have decided to start taking one a day for men and drink slim fast shakes along with some liquid foods. I don't know if this plan will work for very long but I have hope and faith that my body will not let me down. Thanks for reading my article and look forward to reading your responses.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Wow Cris, I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles :( Do you have a dedicated GI who is overseeing your case? And have you tried getting your insurance company to approve the Remicade? What reason did they give for not approving it?

As for your current treatment plan, frankly, it's terrible. I say that in a kind way but use the strong wording for emphasis. My reasoning:

1. A multi vitamin is nowhere near enough. People with Crohn's disease are commmonly deficient in a variety of vitamins and minerals ranging from vitamin B12, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, and iron with others on a case by case basis. Your multi vitamin contains nowhere near enough of these. Getting tested for them and then dosing based upon those tests are the best course of action.

2. I understand the liquid diet idea. But I'd suggest Boost or Ensure over slimfast. They're far from perfect but they're much better. I'd also strongly suggest you look into juicing and we have a juicing subforum located here.

3. You need to fight your insurance company. You need top of the line medications in conjunction with dietary and lifestyle changes. One without the other is leaving out a big part of a comprehensive treatment plan in my opinion. There is also www.remistart.com which can help you with Remicade payments. And there is this kind of stuff for your doctor to help you get Remicade approved.

I know a lot is being thrown at you and it must be overwhelming. But this community is here to help you navigate these rough seas.

All my best to you.
 

Angrybird

Moderator
Location
Hertfordshire
Hello and welcome to the forum.

I too was wondering what reasoning your insurance company has given for not doing their job by approving your treatment? Otherwise I think David has got things covered and I do agree that a different approach to your current treatment plan is required.

AB
xx
 

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
Welcome to the forum, Cris!

I'm also wondering what the problem with the insurance company is. Sounds like there may have been a miscommunication between them and the doctors. Have you personally contacted the insurance company to see what the issue is?

:hug: I hope you can get things straightened out soon!
 
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