Five year running fart joke.

[#1gunnah]

Hello All,

I'm new here. I guess I should post my story. Lets preference this by saying I'm doing really well these days. I seem to be in remission and I'm on Remicade every 8 weeks for the past 3 years. I take 1 prilosec in the morning but that's it. (Thank goodness)

Ahh fade back. I'm 26, single, doing the single thing in Washington DC. Hitting the bars partying it up. I was in the military for 6 years at this point. I start getting really bad heart burn. Like really bad bad heart burn. I would have to take tums with me everywhere.

I get transferred but I have to go to this school first. It's 10 weeks long so I go. The last week of school everyone gets weighed because we are going to new units and we need to make sure we are within regs. I had lost 10 lbs magically. I was a gym nut but No way I had tried to loose the weight. I was a sexy jacked and tan 230. No way I dropped the weight right? wrong. I transfer to my unit and instantly get sent out to another school for 6 weeks. the second day on site I start having really bad stomach pains. I'm poopin 4 or 5 times a day. Then I start seeing the blood. Lots of blood.

This school is hard. You have to be in shape. We are training 10 hour days, then we are working out at night. I could keep up during training but my stamina started to suffer. Then I get these meat head MFer's yelling at me that I'm out of shape and I'm a piece of shit The second week rolls around and we all get weighed in. I'm at 212. This was less than 5 weeks from the last weigh in. At this point I am pale, weak and I still have 4 weeks left. I try to talk to the cor-man but he just tells me to pack on the calories and drink some fibercon. I'm eating 2 MRE's a day during training and I can't gain weight. It was bad.

Well I get finished with the training. I move my wife across the country and I go see the doctor. By this point I have developed a rectal fissure from the over use due to the cha cha cha's. My Doctor tells me its going to be 5 weeks before he can get me a referral to a gastro OR I can go to the ER tonight and have one by Monday morning. So I went home. Got the wife and went to the ER. My first doctor diagnosed me with Ulcerative colitis.

So I started prednisone, Imuran, asacol and vitamin D supplements. I worked in an armory around guns all day. When the prednisone mind trip started I was sent home for weeks. (They made me go see a shrink, WTF?) I was still pooping and developed a rectal abscess. I had that surgery, then I had another surgery to fix the fistula. Still sick, still at home like 10 months later. I start to get better and push myself to go back to work.

I go of the prednisone go back to work while I'm still recovering and I have another flair. 2 months after I have another round of predisone and the doc decided to put me on remicade. That worked really well. I recover but by this time my unit has already started to process me for a medical retirement (TDRL). I had been in just under 9 years and I was a lifer. I was more than willing to do 20+. I was only 28. My experience at my last unit made me hate what I once loved so much.



Words for the wise NEVER EVER SHOW UP TO A NEW UNIT BROKEN.

So here I am. I'm about to go back thru the TDRL screening but for the most part I'm good to go. I have gained weight a bit just from having a desk job but I'm healthy. I started to eat really well and I cut out liquor. I do love me some beer though. Namely Ice cold Guinness. If I drink one and I have heart burn its like putting out a fire. I have a list of foods I cut. Mainly almonds and most other nuts along with surgery drinks like coke.

My second doctor diagnosed me with crohn's.

I'm healthy, I work out, I enjoy spending time with my family. I'm still a shooter hence my user ID. Remicade has really helped but I would like to eventually stop taking it. Not because I have a death wish but because I want to live a drug free life as I did once before.

So yes, that my story. I'm really excited to be on this forum. I found it the other day and I was on here as a spider for hours. I just had to join. If I can give any one advise or anything please let me know. I'm really stoked to be able to have an outlet for this. I just moved to the Raleigh, NC area and I need a good gastro.

 

[Angrybird]

Hello and welcome to the forum

I am glad after a tough time of it that you are now doing well on the Remi. I can understand the need to be med free but please be careful and make sure that if you do decide to go this route that you have discussed is with your doc first and stay on regular monitoring with them. When feeling well it is easy to think that the meds are no longer required, unfortunately the 'ol tum has a nasty way of reminding you that this is not always the case.

From already having a look around you will see that there is a lot of helpful info here including a doctor review forum which might be able to help with finding a new doc for you. I will keep fingers crossed that you continue to do well.

AB
xx

 

[David]

Hey there gunnah and welcome Thanks for joining and sharing your story. I really hope that they let you stay in, but based upon what I'd read from other military members here, your chances aren't very good Hopefully you're lucky but I do want to be honest about what I've read so you can prepare yourself in case they do discharge you.

I'm so glad the Remicade is working well for you! That's wonderful. If you would like to connect with others on it, we have a subforum dedicated to Remicade here.

All my best to you! Please keep us updated.

 

[#1gunnah]

Hey thanks David, I don't think I will be able to stay in. From what I understand they are going thru a large downsizing so I'm sure they won't let me remain. My only option now is to pray they don't take my insurance and pension. When I go back thru the evaluation I will see if they are going to or not. I would really hate to start this medical board process over. Whats even worse is that its hard to trust that my best interest is being sought after how I was treated last time. Sad but true.