Newbie.

[f_else]

Hi my name is Fabienne,

I'm a 21 year old female Law student from Australia who was diagnosed with crohns last year.
I've always had a 'sensitive stomach', but had been reasonably healthy until about halfway through last year when all the symptoms started to appear. I had a colonoscopy and my specialist told me I had a 'mild' case of crohns that would be unlikely to affect my lifestyle.
Unfortunately this is not seemingly the case as two months later (3 days after my end of year exams) I was in hospital. I was given high doses of prednisolone, but it didn't do anything and I didn't improve. I ended up losing about 10kgs in two and a half weeks. I was always pretty slim so I had begun to look skeletal and I hated to look at myself in the mirror.
Eventually surgery became the only option and I had my terminal ileum removed. I was in hospital for about three weeks in the end.
In the last few months I've been trying to come up with various strategies to deal with this disease. My doctor suggested I drop or go down to part time in my degree, but I have kept going full-time. I don't know if this is the right decision, but I'm doing the best I can for the time being. I don't want to let this disease become an excuse I use to stop living the life I have always worked towards.
Anyways, I realize that this is just the beginning of a long journey with this condition and I am just glad that this forum exists so that I can connect with other people who are having similar experiences.

 

[M2M]

My prayers are with you Fabienne; I know it is hard to deal with doctors appts; hospital stays and then the days you just aren't feeling good. You have to listen to your body. My daughter was finishing up her school when she got diagnosed back in Feb; however even with a 4 day hospital stay and sick days; she finished 95% on time.
one thing about crohns is that you can't overtax your body; so do what you feel is the best ting for you and take care

 

[xJillx]

Hi Fabienne and welcome! I am so sorry you have been through so much so soon. How have you been feeling after your surgery? What maintenance medication are you taking?

I agree that you shouldn't let your Crohn's stop you from living. I continue to full time work, keep up with my home and yard, take vacations, and pretty much enjoy daily life. Of course, I have my bad days, but I have just learned to enjoy the good ones much more! However, if you find going to school full time to be too stressful and to be taking a toll on your health, cutting the load down wouldn't be giving into your disease. I have left the teaching field and now keep an office job because it is better for me as it is less stressful, my hours are more flexible, and I can go to the bathroom if I need to! It is a compromise I had to make, and life if full of compromises!

I look forward to seeing you around the forum!

 

[f_else]

Thanks for the support guys, its lovely to join this site and get some reassurance from people who understand what this is like to live with. As to your question Jill, I am currently on 4 gms of Pentasa daily, along with periodic stints of prednisone (which I am trying to keep as low as possible, but its not really working). I'm on about 25 mgs a day at the moment to keep my flare-ups down.
I'm having a colonoscopy in June to check how everything is going post-op and my specialist is talking about going on Imuran. I'm on board for anything that might help to give me a bit more consistency in my health.

 

[xJillx]

I am happy you found us, too! God knows it has helped me a lot!

You should check out the Imuran Club under Treatment - lots of good info. in there for you!

 

[rygon]

hi, welcome to the forum. What a great name for a place to live in (wollongong sounds so cheerful).
Im on imuran atm and find it helps loads, really good drug in my mind. Im also doing a degree (distant learning) and although i want to get it out of the way, i took a year off due to it stressing me out and making me ill. May be worth talking to the course leaders to see if they can help if you get any worse.

This forum is a great place for info. Hope it helps and dont forget to ask any questions you have or just to chat

 

[Jer's Girl]

Hi Fabienne! School was very hard for me too, and i know my disease held me back some and made my stay in collage a bit longer than some, but eventually I got my degree, and getting it felt all the more sweet because I knew how hard it was for me to get there. Sometimes our challenges end up adding to the joy we find in our successes somehow. Good luck to you and welcome to the forum!