Hi I'm Larry,
I have had Crohn's disease since I was 17. I am 53 now. When I was first diagnosed after several tests I asked my doctor how long will this go on? He said 'For the rest of your life'. I can't tell you how bad that felt at 17. And it's true. I am just getting through another flare up as I write this.
By the time i was 19, I was in real bad shape. I had lost more than 40 lbs from being 170. Mind you I am 6'1". I had terrible diarrhea and pain to go with that. I was losing a lot of blood when my sister took me to the ER. The doctors there said 'We might have lost him if you hadn't brought him in'. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks and gained back 20 lbs. Through the years I learned how to deal with it but was hard to cope with the pain and diarrhea. I took several types of drugs but nothing ever really worked.
In 1993 the disease had gotten worse again. They gave me prednisone and I gained weight like someone blew up a balloon. I was taking 60mg a day and most of the pain went away. One day I discovered bubbles in my urine and a strange feeling when I urinated, like I was blowing air out of there. My doctor said you have a hole in your bladder and you need surgery right away.
So I had my 1 surgery in '93 where they removed 14" of my small intestine from the Ileum back. The surgeon said when he was inside that he had seen the disease all over my intestines and that I would probably have trouble again.
They also repaired my bladder and said the disease had created a fistula between the bowel and the bladder.
Not long after the surgery I felt great. No more pain or flare ups for 5 years. Then it came back. Like a timed schedule I have had 2-3 flare ups per year since then. Had my gall bladder removed in 2007 and have had 4 colonoscopys since my intestinal surgery. A few polyps here and there but this last one was polyp free. Great feeling.
Anyway, a friend who knows my condition told me about your site and here I am. Glad to find some people who know of this disease and know how painful and isolating it can be.
I have had Crohn's disease since I was 17. I am 53 now. When I was first diagnosed after several tests I asked my doctor how long will this go on? He said 'For the rest of your life'. I can't tell you how bad that felt at 17. And it's true. I am just getting through another flare up as I write this.
By the time i was 19, I was in real bad shape. I had lost more than 40 lbs from being 170. Mind you I am 6'1". I had terrible diarrhea and pain to go with that. I was losing a lot of blood when my sister took me to the ER. The doctors there said 'We might have lost him if you hadn't brought him in'. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks and gained back 20 lbs. Through the years I learned how to deal with it but was hard to cope with the pain and diarrhea. I took several types of drugs but nothing ever really worked.
In 1993 the disease had gotten worse again. They gave me prednisone and I gained weight like someone blew up a balloon. I was taking 60mg a day and most of the pain went away. One day I discovered bubbles in my urine and a strange feeling when I urinated, like I was blowing air out of there. My doctor said you have a hole in your bladder and you need surgery right away.
So I had my 1 surgery in '93 where they removed 14" of my small intestine from the Ileum back. The surgeon said when he was inside that he had seen the disease all over my intestines and that I would probably have trouble again.
They also repaired my bladder and said the disease had created a fistula between the bowel and the bladder.
Not long after the surgery I felt great. No more pain or flare ups for 5 years. Then it came back. Like a timed schedule I have had 2-3 flare ups per year since then. Had my gall bladder removed in 2007 and have had 4 colonoscopys since my intestinal surgery. A few polyps here and there but this last one was polyp free. Great feeling.
Anyway, a friend who knows my condition told me about your site and here I am. Glad to find some people who know of this disease and know how painful and isolating it can be.
