Hello everyone!
I'm Heather. I'm 45 years old, married with 3 children ages 17, 13 and 11. I was first diagnosed with Crohn's in 1989 at 21. I had a rough time in my early 20's but have been well controlled since my first pregnancy in 1996 at 28 (except for one violent flare in 2006) with only occassional rounds of sulfasalazine to knock it down. In the early 90's I was on prednisone and again in 2006 for a short period.
I am one of the lucky ones having never needed surgery. My gastroenterologist is Dr. Charles Bernstein at HSC Winnipeg and I credit him with much of my success in fighting this disease. He is world reknown for his research and knowledge and treatment of Crohn's and Colitis and I have definitely benefited from that.
At my most recent appt with him he informed me that he is changing my diagnosis from Crohn's to Colitis. I'm not entirely sure why. After my flare in 2006 he advised that as I had surpassed the 20 year mark with Crohn's that it would be prudent to do annual scopes to detect and treat any polyps/cancers. He has discovered through his research that after 20 years of disease many patients develop cancer. I was going annually but have now been bumped to every 3 years as he sees me as very healthy with very little changes in the colonoscopy results.
As an interesting side note my mother also has Crohn's. She was diagnosed about 8 years after I was and has had a much worse experience.
I'm looking forward to meeting and chatting with you all.
Heather
I'm Heather. I'm 45 years old, married with 3 children ages 17, 13 and 11. I was first diagnosed with Crohn's in 1989 at 21. I had a rough time in my early 20's but have been well controlled since my first pregnancy in 1996 at 28 (except for one violent flare in 2006) with only occassional rounds of sulfasalazine to knock it down. In the early 90's I was on prednisone and again in 2006 for a short period.
I am one of the lucky ones having never needed surgery. My gastroenterologist is Dr. Charles Bernstein at HSC Winnipeg and I credit him with much of my success in fighting this disease. He is world reknown for his research and knowledge and treatment of Crohn's and Colitis and I have definitely benefited from that.
At my most recent appt with him he informed me that he is changing my diagnosis from Crohn's to Colitis. I'm not entirely sure why. After my flare in 2006 he advised that as I had surpassed the 20 year mark with Crohn's that it would be prudent to do annual scopes to detect and treat any polyps/cancers. He has discovered through his research that after 20 years of disease many patients develop cancer. I was going annually but have now been bumped to every 3 years as he sees me as very healthy with very little changes in the colonoscopy results.
As an interesting side note my mother also has Crohn's. She was diagnosed about 8 years after I was and has had a much worse experience.
I'm looking forward to meeting and chatting with you all.
Heather
