Hey everyone. I'm new here, as you could probably guess from the label. I don't personally have Crohn's (or UC or IBD of any sort), but I am married to a man that has been diagnosed with Crohn's since 2008, when he was 18 or 19 years old. We've been married for a little over 2 years now, and while he can get on my nerves sometimes, I love him with everything in me and I couldn't imagine my life without him. We also have an utterly adorable son (not biased at all... :wink
who is about 1 1/2 years old.
I often get asked the question if I knew what I was getting into when I married him. Did I know that he had Crohn's? Yes. Did I know what Crohn's was? I didn't have an intimate knowledge of it, no, but I did know that he had to take medication for it and it made him use the restroom a lot. My knowledge has since increased exponentially, especially as his condition continues to deteriorate.
He has been on almost every kind of medication out there for Crohn's, to little or no avail. He jokes a lot about how he can recognize any drug, tell you the uses of it, side effects, everything, as well as or better than a pharmacist could. Just looking at his collection of prescriptions, he may as well be a pharmacist. But things have still been rough. Side effects have ranged from fatigue to nausea to diarrhea to bloody stools to abdominal pain to all of the above, depending on the medication. The doctors haven't been able to get his Crohn's under control in the last 2 years, so every day is another day in this never-ending flare-up.
Currently, he is in the hospital, recovering from surgery. We've finally found some doctors who seem to be confident in their ability to help him. This is his first surgery, an ileostomy, and at first he seemed to be recovering really well. He was actually excited to hear that he was going to finally get his ostomy -- his "poo-poo bag", as he likes to call it -- just due to the fact that he wouldn't have to experience the desperate bathroom urgency again. But, the doctors have said that his stoma output is too low, and he has been experiencing an abnormal level of pain for this far past his surgery. Basically, they're worried that there could be a blockage of some sort, and will be running an x-ray soon, and possibly more tests after that depending on the results of the x-ray. We had hoped that he would be home by now, but now it looks like it will still be another week.
I'm struggling, trying to be supportive of him through all of this, trying to raise our son as best as I can, more or less on my own, while his Daddy goes all of this. I put on a brave face for our friends and family, and for him, but it is very hard. I don't have Crohn's, but I do suffer from his.
who is about 1 1/2 years old.I often get asked the question if I knew what I was getting into when I married him. Did I know that he had Crohn's? Yes. Did I know what Crohn's was? I didn't have an intimate knowledge of it, no, but I did know that he had to take medication for it and it made him use the restroom a lot. My knowledge has since increased exponentially, especially as his condition continues to deteriorate.
He has been on almost every kind of medication out there for Crohn's, to little or no avail. He jokes a lot about how he can recognize any drug, tell you the uses of it, side effects, everything, as well as or better than a pharmacist could. Just looking at his collection of prescriptions, he may as well be a pharmacist. But things have still been rough. Side effects have ranged from fatigue to nausea to diarrhea to bloody stools to abdominal pain to all of the above, depending on the medication. The doctors haven't been able to get his Crohn's under control in the last 2 years, so every day is another day in this never-ending flare-up.
Currently, he is in the hospital, recovering from surgery. We've finally found some doctors who seem to be confident in their ability to help him. This is his first surgery, an ileostomy, and at first he seemed to be recovering really well. He was actually excited to hear that he was going to finally get his ostomy -- his "poo-poo bag", as he likes to call it -- just due to the fact that he wouldn't have to experience the desperate bathroom urgency again. But, the doctors have said that his stoma output is too low, and he has been experiencing an abnormal level of pain for this far past his surgery. Basically, they're worried that there could be a blockage of some sort, and will be running an x-ray soon, and possibly more tests after that depending on the results of the x-ray. We had hoped that he would be home by now, but now it looks like it will still be another week.
I'm struggling, trying to be supportive of him through all of this, trying to raise our son as best as I can, more or less on my own, while his Daddy goes all of this. I put on a brave face for our friends and family, and for him, but it is very hard. I don't have Crohn's, but I do suffer from his.
