• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Getting Surgery!

I know I haven't been on lately. But I am being sent for surgery very soon. Within the next two weeks I will be seeing a surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. And the surgery wil be done in between semesters at school.

To give you a little update as to what has been going on I will start back to before this fall semester in August.

I have been having pain and trouble with my right lower quadrant for a while now. I had a colonoscopy done Aug 23, and my doctor said I was inflamed but it was nothing to bad. He put me on Enotcort to help reduce the swelling. After taking it for awhile I realized it wasn't helping and I was still in a lot of pain.

I ended up going to the ER in the middle of September for all the pain and I was almost admitted, but the ER doctor said we can just admit me, or call my GI and see what he said. So he put me on prednisone and let me go back home. I took all the prednisone starting at 40mg and tampering down, and still felt no relief.

I had called my GI again and he said my levels and everything are fine and he doesn't know what else he can do for me. So he suggested for me to go to Pittsburgh, and find a specialist there to take care of me. This is probably around the beginning of October. So he set me up with the doctors there and I was set to go for November 15th. He put me on Tramadol for the pain and I was able to take 1 50mg tablet three times daily and that still was not helping, so he then said to take 2 of the 50 mg tablets and it still doesn't work, but its better than nothing.

Shortly after that I was in the ER again with more belly pain and constipation, I went thinking there could be a blockage so I just wanted to make sure. The pain was bad enough to make me feel feverish, and not able to walk standing straight. The doctor took blood work where everything came back fine, and he also did an x-ray on my tummy. He could see that there was a lot of bowel in there and told me to drink magnisum citrate to help relieve the constipation and let me go to the bathroom. But I could tell by the pain that it wasn't just constipation, but the same burning pain that I experienced when I was first going through my diagnosis. But I did what the ER doctor said and it did help, but the other pain still persisted.

Few more weeks passed and I go to the week of my specialist appointment. I woke up Monday morning with really bad pain but still tried going to class. I i got to class and stayed for 15 minutes before I had to leave and go back home due to severe nausea and almost puking. That night I got a sore throat and then woke up with a runny nose. Wednesday morning i woke up with a sinus infection and went to the school health center for antibiotics. Both days I didnt go to any classes. Finally Friday came and I couldn't be more happy.

At my specialist visit I talked to my doctor about EVERYTHING. He talked to me about how I felt before diagnosis, when i first started treatment and to what I have been dealing with now. He sent me for a CT scan, and a ton of blood work. I finally felt relief and finally able to get some answers.

He called me this morning saying that I have thickening in my colon, and iliem which is where I have been having all this pain, tenderness and all the other problems. He explained a lot more but its a lot harder to explain since it was just over the phone and i don't have actual papers to look at yet. But he did talk to three surgeons at the hospital and they all said that more medication wont reverse what is going on now, and I am better off getting the surgery to fix this. I am not sure what kind of surgery I am getting right now, but once I talk to the surgeon myself I will be sure to post again. But this has pretty much been my whole fall semester, and yes my grades are suffering big time. But I finally feel a bit better since I know whats going on and how to fix it. I just have to wait and see what the next step is. :)
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
Sorry you struggled so much through your college start. Hopefully surgery will be successful and because it's done in between semesters I hope you will be fully healed by your next one.
 
Thank you! I hope so too! A little nervous but I know these doctors know what they are doing! My great gram did with with colon cancer! I can be strong just like her!
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
It's not an easy thing to go through by any means but just keep your eye on the prize. You suffered so long and hopefully this is the beginning of the end of that chapter.
 
Thats what I keep telling myself. Its going to be a process but the outcome will be better than what I have been dealing with.

Thank you for being so positive for me! It really helps!
 
Hey Rissal. Your story and symptoms sound identical to mine. I too have had trips to ER due to pain and constipation. X-rays showed the same thing and I am waiting for an MRI.

I hope it works out for you and I will be keeping a look out for any updates you provide.
 
Awe. I am so sorry. This has been the worst pain ever! I thought my cramps were bad! I hope you get to feeling better! Keep me updated as well!

BTW, I am still waiting for the Surgeon to call..
 
Top