My brother recently diagnosed and in Hospital

[Dufrais]

Hello to everyone, firstly just wanted to say I found this forum while searching for information about the diesease as my brother has recently been diagnosed and while I don't suffer from Crohns myself I feel for anyone who does and have been very worried about my brother.

His story started about a month ago as he felt generally unwell and had dioreaha and pain so started took some time off work and went to the Doctors and they ran some blood tests, which took some time to come back in my opinion, he was off work a couple of weeks and at home before the Doctors called and advised him to go to hospital, which he did.

After a couple of days of just general treatment for pain and some tests, I don't know the technical terms for the tests but he had a camera in his intestines and I'm fairly certain they did a biopsy too he was diagnosed with Crohns, so I started reading up on it.

Over the weekend he took a turn for the worse and on Monday he called me to tell me they were going to have to operate.
this is what I needed some advice on because I haven't been able to speak to the Doctors themselves when I've gone to visit, he has had to have his colon removed from what he told me and now has a Stoma and a Bag.

I just wanted to know what questions I should be asking as I'm very worried about him and needed to know if the operation was permanant.

Also just the best way to cope after he come out of Hospital which I assume won't be for a few weeks now?, will he recover and be able to work and live a normal life again?, what can I and anyone else do to help him?.

Sorry for the long first post but really wanted some advice on what to do and I hope to hear back from some of you soon.

 

[archie]

Hi Dufrais, so so sorry to hear about your brother it sounds like he has had a very bad time of it. to be diagnosed and operated on so quick is very unpleasant and scary for you both. I do not have a stoma so can't really comment on it but I do know that they can be either temporary to let the bowel heal after surgery or permanent if the entire colon has been removed. There is a section in this forum on stomas so you should look at some of the info on there. I'm sorry i'm not much help to you but crohn's is a very diverse disease and affects everyone differently, not sure if your from the UK but there is a crohns society that you can join which can be very useful. I hope you start to get some answers soon and i'm sure other people will post soon with more helpful advice.

 

[Rebecca85]

After he comes out of hospital, he should be able to lead a fairly normal life. Obviously he will have to take it easy after his op, but as far as the bag is concerned, many on here consider it the best thing that ever happened to them. Usually people will be on medication to try to prevent the Crohn's coming back, and he will need to alter his diet- a low residue diet is recommended after surgery, but there may be more permanent changes he has to make (most of us have at least one food we cannot eat!). You will have to ask his doctors whether or not the stoma is permanent. In some cases they can reattach the small intestine to the anus, and create an internal pouch to store faeces until you get to the toilet. But I believe this is more commonly performed for UC patients.

Probably the best thing you can do for your brother is to be there for him! He is prpbably very frightened, confused, and maybe even depressed (depression is a commonside effect from Crohn's) and after such a quick diagnosis and surgery, it leaves you reeling. Not to mention the physical recovery from surgery, putting weight back on and getting proper nutrition again.

By all means, read up on Crohn's and treatments and stomas- there is plenty of information on this forum includimg a stoma subforum and a wiki. But your brother will need to come to terms with this in his own time. He may not appreciate you coming to him with the latest treatment that 'might' help (like my family and friends would come to me saying they'd heard that *insert food here* was good for the gut, and I'd have to explain yet again why I can't eat that food).

We look forward to seeing you around the forum. Any more questions, just ask! And when your brother is well enough, we'd love to see him too!

 

[Dufrais]

Thanks for the welcome and advice, I'm certainly not going to read up on every little thing that might help and come to him with it, I'm sure he has other worries at the moment and to tell the truth I really,really feel for him and just want to do whatever I can to make sure he's comfortable and get him home for Christmas hopefully, I'm going to the Hospital shortly so I'm going to try and find out exactly what surgery has been performed and if he has to have the bag for a long period then it would be great to hear of places to order them and acessories as I assume you need straps and things?, so we can get him prepared.

 

[Jessica]

Here's the Stoma Subforum - http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=46

My brother was in the hospital two months ago for an abcess. He's getting checked for Crohn's presently. Still running tests. I know this can be a difficult time as a sister. Be strong for him. And make sure he knows it's okay to fall apart every once in awhile.

The camera is called a pill cam or Capsule endoscopy.

And he can live a normal life. We all do. My first year in college actually, my roomate had a bag. Man, did she keep living life too.

I'm sure everything will work itself out. Best of wishes. We're here for you.<3
And welcome to the forum.