Hi all. I'm new to the group so I thought I would share my story with you. I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2003. In the beginning I dropped from 160-130lbs and was having diarrhea 2-4 times a days. Those were the only symptoms I had, little did I know what fun things were in store for me. It's weird, I'm trying to think back to any other symptoms I had but I can't remember any. Maybe because I wasn't great at listening to what my body was trying to tell me back then. I didn't take the disease seriously, I didn't do any research on it or change my diet or my lifestyle. I was too busy with starting a new family and a new career to be bother by this little annoyance. Fast forward about 5 years and that's when things started to pop up. Symptoms that I didn't even realize we're associated with Crohn's, like; Iritis and Fistulas and Abscesses-oh my. 
then things got worse, 2 years later I started getting severe abdominal pain due to the inflammation and narrowing of my small intestine. My surgeon said that the diameter of a portion of my small intestine was the size of a pea. I would get excruciating pain if I ate any solid foods. Even if I just ate soup I was in agony. I remember having little tricks to help with the pain like, rubbing or putting pressure on my belly in a specific spot and direction to facilitate the release of gas stuck in my intestine. I remember my gait having deviations and always holding my stomach to deal with the pain. My weight dropped to 98 lbs. at one point (I'm a 5'8" tall man), I looked so emaciated. It got so bad that I had to get a PICC line to get TPN for my nutrition and to give my digestive system a break to heal. I was told that I couldn't lift more than ten pounds with the PICC line so I couldn't work during this time. Once I gained back some weight and started to feel better I decided to get rid of the PICC so I could start working again for financial reasons. But once I got off the PICC line I started having severe pain and nutritional problems again. So I decided to have open surgery (resection and ileostomy) to improve the pain and digestive issues. So the surgeon took out a foot long section of the diseased part of my small intestine and then left me a nice present-the bag wasn't fun. I had so much trouble with getting the pouch to stick on my skin bc I was so thin. And my skin was reacting to the adhesive and getting extremely sore and red, which made it harder to get a secure fit. I was constantly worried that it was going to fall off at work. Btw, when I got back to my job, a bunch of supervisors called me into the conference room and told me that I couldn't miss any more work bc I was still in my trial period. And that as,it is now they don't know if they're going to keep me on when the trial period ends. I went a little nuts on them partly bc I might lose my job even if I don't miss any more days and partly bc I had in the back of my mind that I was going to get the ileostomy reversed in 3-4 months. Basically, I had to choose between my job and having to keep the pouch for longer. In the end, I chose to get the surgery to reverse the ileostomy. The surgery kept me out of work for another 2 months and as predicted they let me go. Recovery from those surgeries was hell and I was very depressed during this period.
Now I am doing much better. Going through all this crap has taught me to appreciate things that I used to take for granted. Things like; being able to walk or eating a good meal or just being able to sit up in bed without any help. I'm working again and my new job is so much better then my old one. I have more energy. I have even started playing competitive sports again. I still struggle at times physically and emotionally but I try to keep it in perspective. My abdominal pain is gone and my weight has been steady at 125 lbs., I would really like to gain more but haven't been able to. Still experimenting with different diets to help with diarrhea, weight gain and nutrition. Any advice or tips for gaining weight would be appreciated. I am currently taking Humira(once a week) Lialda, Bupropion, Lorazepam and 6-mp. Thanks for listening.
then things got worse, 2 years later I started getting severe abdominal pain due to the inflammation and narrowing of my small intestine. My surgeon said that the diameter of a portion of my small intestine was the size of a pea. I would get excruciating pain if I ate any solid foods. Even if I just ate soup I was in agony. I remember having little tricks to help with the pain like, rubbing or putting pressure on my belly in a specific spot and direction to facilitate the release of gas stuck in my intestine. I remember my gait having deviations and always holding my stomach to deal with the pain. My weight dropped to 98 lbs. at one point (I'm a 5'8" tall man), I looked so emaciated. It got so bad that I had to get a PICC line to get TPN for my nutrition and to give my digestive system a break to heal. I was told that I couldn't lift more than ten pounds with the PICC line so I couldn't work during this time. Once I gained back some weight and started to feel better I decided to get rid of the PICC so I could start working again for financial reasons. But once I got off the PICC line I started having severe pain and nutritional problems again. So I decided to have open surgery (resection and ileostomy) to improve the pain and digestive issues. So the surgeon took out a foot long section of the diseased part of my small intestine and then left me a nice present-the bag wasn't fun. I had so much trouble with getting the pouch to stick on my skin bc I was so thin. And my skin was reacting to the adhesive and getting extremely sore and red, which made it harder to get a secure fit. I was constantly worried that it was going to fall off at work. Btw, when I got back to my job, a bunch of supervisors called me into the conference room and told me that I couldn't miss any more work bc I was still in my trial period. And that as,it is now they don't know if they're going to keep me on when the trial period ends. I went a little nuts on them partly bc I might lose my job even if I don't miss any more days and partly bc I had in the back of my mind that I was going to get the ileostomy reversed in 3-4 months. Basically, I had to choose between my job and having to keep the pouch for longer. In the end, I chose to get the surgery to reverse the ileostomy. The surgery kept me out of work for another 2 months and as predicted they let me go. Recovery from those surgeries was hell and I was very depressed during this period. Now I am doing much better. Going through all this crap has taught me to appreciate things that I used to take for granted. Things like; being able to walk or eating a good meal or just being able to sit up in bed without any help. I'm working again and my new job is so much better then my old one. I have more energy. I have even started playing competitive sports again. I still struggle at times physically and emotionally but I try to keep it in perspective. My abdominal pain is gone and my weight has been steady at 125 lbs., I would really like to gain more but haven't been able to. Still experimenting with different diets to help with diarrhea, weight gain and nutrition. Any advice or tips for gaining weight would be appreciated. I am currently taking Humira(once a week) Lialda, Bupropion, Lorazepam and 6-mp. Thanks for listening.
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