- Joined
- Aug 3, 2011
- Messages
- 3
I was diagnosed with Crohn's the Summer after I graduated high school. I had experienced problems for years but was told it was nothing serious and I was "too young" to worry. In early June I woke up one morning and felt weak and could not stop going to the bathroom. I figured I had the flu and I decided to wait it out. After a week of no change, horrible pain and having to call off of work at both of my jobs, I went to my doctor who said I had IBS (not IBD!) and all I had to do was eat more fiber. Obviously, this made things worse and the day after my grad party I was rushed to the hospital by my father.
At first they diagnosed me with UC, put me on prednisone and asacol, and told me I'd be fine. I was two weeks away from a Pilgrimage to Australia had I worked for for over two years. Yet days went by and I wasn't feeling better. Finally, days before I was supposed to get on a plane, I went to another doctor. His first words were "You look like hell." He was the first doctor to take me seriously and two week long hospital trips later diagnosed me with Crohn's. I cried when I found out and he knelt by my bed and told me I was one of the strongest kids he's ever seen. I'm lucky that I happened to come across him, he's the best doctor I've ever had (and has a great sense of humor, especially with teens and young adults, thus his first comment to me.)
At this point I was forced to miss my trip to Australia due to being in the hospital.
I was losing weight fast and couldn't seem to stay out of the hospital for long. I usually went in for 5 days, came home for a week to 2 weeks and went right back in. I had to have multiple blood transfusions. To be honest, I lost count but I think the final number was 8. My doctor decided that prednisone wasn't working (and I was on the largest dose he'd ever seen for 18 yrs old) and neither was 6MP. I had so many complications it was hard to remember them all. So he decided that I should start Remicade and 6MP as a last resort because surgery would be risky. It ended up killing off all my white blood cells, sending me into the ICU for a week and then a week long med-surge hospital stay right after.
Yet just like that my symptoms improved dramatically. Remicade almost killed me then it saved my life. I'm still on it to this day without a problem other than some aches after treatments. Only 1 in 100,000 have the complication I did, so I just happened to be dealt a crappy hand. I won't go near 6MP though. This particular flare lasted 3 months and forced me to miss my first semester of college freshman year. I am now 21, a little chubby (and proud! I had gone from 135 to 109 in weeks during my big flare) and going to school full time with 2 jobs. Life isn't easy, but Remi still keeps my Crohn's in line and so far I've only had minor to moderate flares but no hospital stays.
I'm lucky to have had a loving family, a boyfriend who was with me 3 years ago and is still here now, and a loving God.
I'm due to get what may be my final Remi tomorrow morning and fly out to Spain for another Pilgrimage this tuesday.
I guess I do believe in happy endings.
At first they diagnosed me with UC, put me on prednisone and asacol, and told me I'd be fine. I was two weeks away from a Pilgrimage to Australia had I worked for for over two years. Yet days went by and I wasn't feeling better. Finally, days before I was supposed to get on a plane, I went to another doctor. His first words were "You look like hell." He was the first doctor to take me seriously and two week long hospital trips later diagnosed me with Crohn's. I cried when I found out and he knelt by my bed and told me I was one of the strongest kids he's ever seen. I'm lucky that I happened to come across him, he's the best doctor I've ever had (and has a great sense of humor, especially with teens and young adults, thus his first comment to me.)
At this point I was forced to miss my trip to Australia due to being in the hospital.
I was losing weight fast and couldn't seem to stay out of the hospital for long. I usually went in for 5 days, came home for a week to 2 weeks and went right back in. I had to have multiple blood transfusions. To be honest, I lost count but I think the final number was 8. My doctor decided that prednisone wasn't working (and I was on the largest dose he'd ever seen for 18 yrs old) and neither was 6MP. I had so many complications it was hard to remember them all. So he decided that I should start Remicade and 6MP as a last resort because surgery would be risky. It ended up killing off all my white blood cells, sending me into the ICU for a week and then a week long med-surge hospital stay right after.
Yet just like that my symptoms improved dramatically. Remicade almost killed me then it saved my life. I'm still on it to this day without a problem other than some aches after treatments. Only 1 in 100,000 have the complication I did, so I just happened to be dealt a crappy hand. I won't go near 6MP though. This particular flare lasted 3 months and forced me to miss my first semester of college freshman year. I am now 21, a little chubby (and proud! I had gone from 135 to 109 in weeks during my big flare) and going to school full time with 2 jobs. Life isn't easy, but Remi still keeps my Crohn's in line and so far I've only had minor to moderate flares but no hospital stays.
I'm lucky to have had a loving family, a boyfriend who was with me 3 years ago and is still here now, and a loving God.
I'm due to get what may be my final Remi tomorrow morning and fly out to Spain for another Pilgrimage this tuesday.
I guess I do believe in happy endings.
