Hi,
I'm a 23 year old from Sydney, Australia. Found out over the weekend I have "mild" Crohn's - had a gastroscopy and colonoscopy which found two small ulcers at the end of my small intestine/beginning of my large intestine.
My mum, dad and sister all have/had ulcerative colitis - my sister's was so severe, having been on prednisone since a teen (now 25) it came to a head last year when she was hospitalised. She opted to have her whole large intestine removed over a series of 3 surgeries because she was pretty much at risk of death. She's blissfully UC free now, aside from some surgical complications with her detached rectum she has some snazzy scars and a new lease on life.
i guess my family always thought that i would be the IBD free survivor, but about a month ago i had rectal bleeding - no diarrhoea or any other typical symptoms. given the fam history I headed straight on over to the doc to check it out.
i'm trying to think of what to ask my doctor in my follow-up appointment - I guess I'm mainly wondering now, given that it's a chronic illness is Crohn's likely to progress in severity over time? Up until now it has not affected my quality of living. I'm also quite worried as there are bigger implications that don't come with UC, like fistulas, blockages - not much of an option of intestine-removal surgery. i also want to avoid steroid use as much as possible, given what it put my sister through she was at risk of bowel cancer by the end. i'm also here because my family isn't handling it too well - they largely haven't acknowledged it or offered much comfort - i guess they're as shocked as I am.
if anyone has any suggestions about getting through the initial diagnosis, and how to not let a chronic illness diagnosis get you down i welcome your words
I'm a 23 year old from Sydney, Australia. Found out over the weekend I have "mild" Crohn's - had a gastroscopy and colonoscopy which found two small ulcers at the end of my small intestine/beginning of my large intestine.
My mum, dad and sister all have/had ulcerative colitis - my sister's was so severe, having been on prednisone since a teen (now 25) it came to a head last year when she was hospitalised. She opted to have her whole large intestine removed over a series of 3 surgeries because she was pretty much at risk of death. She's blissfully UC free now, aside from some surgical complications with her detached rectum she has some snazzy scars and a new lease on life.
i guess my family always thought that i would be the IBD free survivor, but about a month ago i had rectal bleeding - no diarrhoea or any other typical symptoms. given the fam history I headed straight on over to the doc to check it out.
i'm trying to think of what to ask my doctor in my follow-up appointment - I guess I'm mainly wondering now, given that it's a chronic illness is Crohn's likely to progress in severity over time? Up until now it has not affected my quality of living. I'm also quite worried as there are bigger implications that don't come with UC, like fistulas, blockages - not much of an option of intestine-removal surgery. i also want to avoid steroid use as much as possible, given what it put my sister through she was at risk of bowel cancer by the end. i'm also here because my family isn't handling it too well - they largely haven't acknowledged it or offered much comfort - i guess they're as shocked as I am.
if anyone has any suggestions about getting through the initial diagnosis, and how to not let a chronic illness diagnosis get you down i welcome your words