R
rhiannonctr
Guest
Hey everyone. I joined a few days ago and have been mostly lurking, but I thought I'd introduce myself.
Let's see, where to start? I've had Crohn's since I was 18. It took almost seven years and a ton of barium and other fun tests before an MD actually nailed it. It wasn't until I was 25 and dropped almost 30 lbs in a month that an MD decided it might be worth actually adding a small bowel follow through to about my 11th upper GI--and there it was! There wasn't a whole lot of info out there about Crohn's in '94 and most of it was just scarry. I stayed on my meds and had the basic problems--swelling, cramps, 20 trips to the bathroom a day.
Then in 2000, I decided to go back to grad school and lost my prescription coverage, so, I stupidly stopped affording my meds. I thought things were fine, just the occasional flare until Nov '04, when I found myself in the ER with an obstruction--an absolute first for me, I thought I had a severe case of food poisoning. I spent Thanskgiving and Christmas in the hospital with obstructions, and after 3 more admits in the beginning of 2005, and multiple rounds of medications (steroids, Imuran, Methotrexate, Remicade) it became apparent that surgery was required. My small bowel was a mess and had prolapsed onto my descending colon, but I was able to avoid an ostomy. Things were going fine, but then a week after the surgery I started having problems breathing and woke up two weeks later in the ICU on a respirator. Apparently, I'd suffered from several pulmonary emboli. So, instead of a week in the hospital I ended up spending 5 weeks there--and as everyone knows even 1 day in a hospital is too long!
Things are going well now. I've got a new MD at the University of Chicago, Center for IBD. She's switched my meds and I'm feeling fairly good. I do have a "fatty" liver (a result of the extra fast weight gain from the Prednisone I'm told) and am on a fairly agressive diet for that, but right now I'm in a mostly good place--and hey, it's my last year of grad school, so it's all looking up! :thumleft:
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here! I sure was glad to find this forum!
Let's see, where to start? I've had Crohn's since I was 18. It took almost seven years and a ton of barium and other fun tests before an MD actually nailed it. It wasn't until I was 25 and dropped almost 30 lbs in a month that an MD decided it might be worth actually adding a small bowel follow through to about my 11th upper GI--and there it was! There wasn't a whole lot of info out there about Crohn's in '94 and most of it was just scarry. I stayed on my meds and had the basic problems--swelling, cramps, 20 trips to the bathroom a day.
Then in 2000, I decided to go back to grad school and lost my prescription coverage, so, I stupidly stopped affording my meds. I thought things were fine, just the occasional flare until Nov '04, when I found myself in the ER with an obstruction--an absolute first for me, I thought I had a severe case of food poisoning. I spent Thanskgiving and Christmas in the hospital with obstructions, and after 3 more admits in the beginning of 2005, and multiple rounds of medications (steroids, Imuran, Methotrexate, Remicade) it became apparent that surgery was required. My small bowel was a mess and had prolapsed onto my descending colon, but I was able to avoid an ostomy. Things were going fine, but then a week after the surgery I started having problems breathing and woke up two weeks later in the ICU on a respirator. Apparently, I'd suffered from several pulmonary emboli. So, instead of a week in the hospital I ended up spending 5 weeks there--and as everyone knows even 1 day in a hospital is too long!
Things are going well now. I've got a new MD at the University of Chicago, Center for IBD. She's switched my meds and I'm feeling fairly good. I do have a "fatty" liver (a result of the extra fast weight gain from the Prednisone I'm told) and am on a fairly agressive diet for that, but right now I'm in a mostly good place--and hey, it's my last year of grad school, so it's all looking up! :thumleft:
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here! I sure was glad to find this forum!