Dear Everyone,
Hi, I'm Justin. I'm looking forward to enjoying and participating on this forum. It will be good to talk with people going through similar problems, offer my input to others, and generally enjoy each other's company.
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 12 (I'm 27 now) and hospitalized for 2 months after getting acute pancreatitis from Asacol. Steroids didn't help; I had a total colectomy and also septic shock, among other complications. I returned to school in the Fall but couldn't cope with my ostomy for very long and had the J-Pouch surgery the following January.
It saved my life. However, I've had many difficulties since then. Pouchitis with difficulty eliminating, diarrhea, skin problems, kidney stones, a broken foot, a torn ACL, lots of stuff. But I think my experiences have led me to be compassionate to people who suffer, and were also one factor in my choosing to pursue the study of acupuncture.
I started acupuncture school a few years ago and as usual, my disease has interfered and kept me at home much of the time. I had extreme constipation for 3 years. Last summer I had surgery with Dr. Kelly Garrett at Weill Cornell for a prolapse of my terminal ileum into my J-Pouch. I also had neurostimulators implanted to reduce fecal incontinence in my sleep. Was pretty good for 5 months and then the constipation came back. After a pouchoscopy, the it went away and came back again later. I started getting severe abdominal pain and dry heaves the day after the test. We did endoscopies with a scope and a video capsule, revealing small intestine ulcerations (the middle and lower parts).
Now I'm on methotrexate, and it has started to help a lot with most of my symptoms. I'm set to start Cimzia soon, although I have mixed feelings about it since it comes from mice and I try not to harm animals, eat a vegan diet. I've tried Humira before and it helped but was inadequate and helped less the longer I was on it. So I think I have to choose this medicine at this point.
Thanks so much to all of you for being here and listening. I'm looking forward to making friends here and contributing.
Sincerely,
Justin
Hi, I'm Justin. I'm looking forward to enjoying and participating on this forum. It will be good to talk with people going through similar problems, offer my input to others, and generally enjoy each other's company.
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 12 (I'm 27 now) and hospitalized for 2 months after getting acute pancreatitis from Asacol. Steroids didn't help; I had a total colectomy and also septic shock, among other complications. I returned to school in the Fall but couldn't cope with my ostomy for very long and had the J-Pouch surgery the following January.
It saved my life. However, I've had many difficulties since then. Pouchitis with difficulty eliminating, diarrhea, skin problems, kidney stones, a broken foot, a torn ACL, lots of stuff. But I think my experiences have led me to be compassionate to people who suffer, and were also one factor in my choosing to pursue the study of acupuncture.
I started acupuncture school a few years ago and as usual, my disease has interfered and kept me at home much of the time. I had extreme constipation for 3 years. Last summer I had surgery with Dr. Kelly Garrett at Weill Cornell for a prolapse of my terminal ileum into my J-Pouch. I also had neurostimulators implanted to reduce fecal incontinence in my sleep. Was pretty good for 5 months and then the constipation came back. After a pouchoscopy, the it went away and came back again later. I started getting severe abdominal pain and dry heaves the day after the test. We did endoscopies with a scope and a video capsule, revealing small intestine ulcerations (the middle and lower parts).
Now I'm on methotrexate, and it has started to help a lot with most of my symptoms. I'm set to start Cimzia soon, although I have mixed feelings about it since it comes from mice and I try not to harm animals, eat a vegan diet. I've tried Humira before and it helped but was inadequate and helped less the longer I was on it. So I think I have to choose this medicine at this point.
Thanks so much to all of you for being here and listening. I'm looking forward to making friends here and contributing.
Sincerely,
Justin
