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Hi everyone.

Hi there my name is nathan. I don't personally suffer from the disease but I have a very close friend named jodie that does. Basically she has only been diagnosed with having Crohn's since March this year. Currently she has a stoma bag and is due for another op to remove some more bowel as the Crohn's has spread. Basically I was
Just wondering what sort of advice that people who Crohn's would offer to someone else also what should she expect in the long term from this disease. Many thanks peeps. Hope to chat soon
 

dave13

Forum Monitor
Location
Maine
Hi nathan and welcome to the forum. It's great you care about jodie enough to join the forum.Is jodie a member? Here is a link to the stoma support group http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=48048 in case you have more stoma questions.

Have you asked jodie what the plan for treatment is? Everyone is different but I like it when a close friend shows interest.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Welcome to the community. It says a lot about you as a person that you would join a community like this to better support your friend. Good for you! She needs people like you in her life.
 

valleysangel92

Moderator
Staff member
Hello nate, welcome to the forum. I'm sorry I've only now seen your post, I've not been as active recently and am just catching up.

Firstly, what a great friend you are! I wish my friends would take more of an interest in my condition.

Do you have any idea what medications Jodie is being given? Knowing this can help us give more personal advice.

It sounds like Jodie has pretty advanced disease to have a stoma so soon after diagnosis, did it take a long time to get diagnosed or was it a bit of a whirlwind? I know a number of people will have emergency surgery and be given a stoma early on. Do you know if Jodie's is permenant or temporary? Sorry for all of the questions, the more information we have the better we can answer your questions.

For now, my advice would be to make sure she gets good information regarding long term medication options, there are a few different ones she can try and her doctors can help direct her on the best option for her current situation. I'd say if she's on steroids, she should also be taking some form of calcium supplement to protect her bones from the thinning effects steroids can have. When she has surgery she should make sure that she gets up and walking as soon as she can afterward, she should make sure she keeps on top of her pain control and when she gets home she should rest and not do any heavy lifting (very important!) for at least 6 weeks.

Long term its hard to say what she can expect. Crohns is a highly individual disease, some of our members have a very hard time getting into remission and maintaining jobs etc while others only have occasional flare ups and lead near normal lives with good careers . With the right treatments, people with crohns can still have families and normal life expectancy. Its a hard road to walk, but with people like you around her she will get there.
 
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