Life after Resection

[Hunt]

Hey guys, again haven't posted in a while but it's about time I did.

Over a year ago I had my bowel resection to finally rid myself of the psychological torment of having crohns physically in the hope that it took away some of the physical aspects of pain too.

My initial surgery was fine until later on that day I suffered a major internal bleed which if it wasn't for a surgeon checking on me before he went home I probably wouldn't be here to post.

Recovering from 2 surgeries less than 24 hours of eachother is hard going.. teaching myself to walk, eat, wash and even to speak was one of the most challenging things I've ever put myself through.. fast forward to today and...

I've had my first flare up since my op which for the longest time I thought I had some sort of remission stage oh how wrong was I. Mostly the psychological aspect of crohns hasn't been as severe however some days I find myself depressed and frustrated. My anxiety is the same as always so in regards to the operation I think it failed in that sense which was disappointing to me.

I can deal with the physical pain but mentally I have no idea how to get over this barricade and I'm sure I've posted about this before-hand too.

Well that's another post for the so-called "diary". I hope you all are getting better and dealing with this disease better than I am.

 

[ronroush7]

Maybe you should talk to a doctor about the depression. Hope you are better soon.

 

[shamrock15]

I think you also need to check into maintenance medications. I know in my case that without them, I would have been under the knife many more times if I would still even be here (I also have had a surgery fail, mine leaked into my bowels for 2 days before we went back in). At least in my case, remicade wasn't that widely known at the time. Check with your doctor. I am now almost a decade in on remicade, and there hasn't been a surgery since it started.

 

[Jennifer]

I'm sorry to hear that you're in a flare again so soon after surgery. Also sorry you had to go through another surgery right after.

I'm not sure where I would be if I didn't continue medication after surgery. All I know is that none of the GIs I've seen since my resection in 1999 believe I've been in a flare since. I have had issues (partial and one full blockage) off and on but they're all convinced it's from scar tissue and adhesions from the surgery. I'm still doing tests anyway anytime I have new symptoms to make sure things don't get out of hand like they did before again.

I take 6MP (Mercaptopurine) daily ever since my surgery. I used to take 50mg but was recently put on 75mg to adjust to my weight better (been a long time since high school so it doesn't make sense to be on the same dose when I've grown taller and gained more weight).

For me the immune suppressants worked best and I didn't have side effects like I did with the biologics and Mesalamine drugs (although I did fine on Asacol as in no side effects, we just found later that it wasn't doing anything for me. Old GI took me off of it about 5 or so years ago, no change).

Have you tried Mercaptopurine or Imuran?