Introducing myself

[B-dub]

I am 50 years old and was just diagnosed with Crohn's and will be having a small bowel resection in the near future. I have strictures and dilations all over the place in my small bowel and a Prometheus IBD diagnostic positive for Crohn's. My doctors are a bit perplexed that it got this far without me seeking medical attention before. I've always had what I called a "cranky abdomen", but never anything I thought I needed to see a doctor for. This past June I experienced several days in a row of pretty breathtaking LLQ pain, consulted Dr. Google (no co-pay there!) and decided I must have diverticulitis. My doc thought the same thing til we got the results of the CT scan.

I'm looking forward to surgery as I'm thinking I will feel better than I have in a very long time. I have a lot of educating myself to do about long-term management. I have always eaten a mostly vegetable diet, with some meat and grains. I'm fairly pain-free on clear liquids and very low residue solids, but you can't eat like that forever! I am a personal trainer, competitive power lifter, and fairly active person. I haven't had a good summer

 

[valleysangel92]

Welcome to the forum! I hope you find us very helpful! Im sorry you're facing surgery but glad to see your positive attitude, that will definitely help when you are recovering. Have you had all your vitamins checked?
I hope you get a date for your surgery soon, please keep us updated and take a look at the surgery forum to see other people's experiences

 

[Clash]

Just wanted to welcome you to the forum. I hope the surgery goes well and has you feeling much better. If you have some time you may want to browse the threads in our Surgery sun forum to give you some idea of others' experiences. Good luck and hope you are felling better soon!

 

[B-dub]

Thank you for the warm welcome. You guys are much more friendly than the meatheads on strength training forums!:lol:

I have been reading stories here all day and am feeling very blessed. Either I have superhuman pain tolerance/endurance or I have been very lucky to have mild symptoms. I was literally shocked by my diagnosis. I have much to learn! So happy to have this resource. Thank you!

 

[B-dub]

I have an appointment with a surgeon on Sept. 24. They mailed it to me. I think a phone call would have been a nicer touch. Once again, I realize, I am not the customer, but the product to be sold. Meanwhile, my abdominal girth is 6 inches above normal, I poop for 3-4 hours every morning and have constant low level pain. I'll perforate while this health care system takes it time. Vent over.

 

[Gmama]

Hi B-dub & welcome to the forum! So sorry for everything you are going through, it is so frustrating getting the ball rolling! There are lots of great people here with lots of good advice that have helped us a lot. No question, no matter how stinky, is off limits!:lol:

 

[Axelfl3333]

I,ve a treatment query I know a lot of posters on this forum are from the USA and I get the impression(maybe wrong)that a lot of USA docs are pretty keen on the surgery route for treatment,but uk,Europe seem more prone on medication route.are there economic reasons for this?i,ve found that my doc,s are pretty anti-surgery unless it gets to dire straits which is fine by me.cheers

 

[B-dub]

I think US doctors are more aggressive with treatment and it is driven by many factors, the most important one I believe is fear of litigation. That along with the average American patient having little patience with waiting to get better (see my post above -I'm ticked off I have to wait a month).

In my case, the scar tissue is very advanced, and cannot be treated medically. Had I known that I had this before it became urgent, it probably could have been treated with medication.

 

[Lisa]

Welcome B-dub to the forum....I'm sure the time will fly until your surgery..and hope all goes well with it!

 

[B-dub]

I had a laparoscopic small bowel resection and ileocecectomy on October 23. Surgery went very well and I was only in the hospital for 3 days. I am very fortunate that the Crohn's was isolated in the terminal ileum and the surgeon thinks the surgery will return me to normal bowel function. I'm still a little sore and bloaty, but feeling a bit better each day!