Oldie but goodie!

[sunflower]

So far, I have been pretty lucky I guess. I was diagnosed in 1992 after having symptoms since the early eighties. It was an interesting journey just to get diagnosed! The good part is that I have had no resections and my flairs have been relatively mild. Though painful.

It is has been a long and interesting journey. Some things are funny, some are not so funny. I am glad I found this forum because it seems like there is a good community of caring people with a wide variety of experiences!

Hopefully I will be able to add a little to the forum, as I think I will be able to take away a lot of knowledge and understanding. Looking forward to making some friends along the way, too.

 

[Crohn's 35]

Welcome Sunflower...I love sunflowers . Nice name lol. I was dx in '93 after a years dx, but it wasnt so funny. Still even after years of meds, I am coping, and helping others along the way. The support here is astronomical, and everyone is helpful in their experiences! What type of meds are you on and how are you coping>

Glad you are here and welcome aboard to an amazing forum!

 

[Astra]

Hi Sunflower
and welcome

Oldie but goodie! that made me laugh, the 2 old fellas off The Muppet show used to say that!
great to have you here, lots of friends here for you to share and laugh with
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

 

[sunflower]

Well, my initial dx took a long time. It wasn't so funny, either! But, there are funny stories thru the years that will share when the time is right.

When I was in high school and college, I used to say that I had a "crick" in my colon because I always knew when something was passing through that spot. Now I know it was an ulcer and adhesions. And in college I would have strange bouts of the big D and not know why. I didn't feel really sick or anything.

Then several years later, I kept coming down with the "flu". At least that is what the doctors said. I finally got mad and told one of the doctors it wasn't fair to dx me with that. People don't get the flu every couple of weeks. He told me life isn't fair. Grrrr. Secretly I was convinced that I had colon cancer and it was slowly eating away my colon. I had blood on my stool and I hurt constantly. They said I had a hemorrhoid and IBS and put me on massive doses of fiber plus laxatives.

A couple of months later I was hospitalized for severe abdominal pain, fever and uncontrollable D. I didn't show signs of appendicitis, but they put me on IV antibiotics to fight the "infection". They did an exploratory surgery and told me my bowel was the weirdest bowel they had ever seen.

I reacted to the antibiotic and they "finally" cultured out C. difficile. They wouldn't believe me that the "massive doses of antibiotics that caused this infection" were given to me at the hospital. I was discharged on Sulfasalazine and Flagyl.

A couple of weeks later I had to go back as I was throwing up constantly and having D again. This time they sent me to a specialist in another city and he diagnosed me after a colonoscopy. I was lucky that way. Another lady in our town that was sick around the same time ended up being treated by doctors here and pretty much lost her colon.

Now I am on Pentasa and it pretty much holds me except when it doesn't. LOL!! I also have Fibromyalgia, Diabetes, and Hypothyroid disease. All pretty much normal with the disease and medications we have to take. I hate Prednisone and could live my whole life without taking it again. But, I won't, I know.

That is enough about me for now. Thanks for the warm welcome! This is the first forum I have found where people know that all the symptoms you can have don't necessarily follow the text book. That is nice, because mine sure don't!

I picked sunflower because I live in Kansas and they are really growing this year. I have seen them alongside the road, and there are tons this year because of all the rain. They will be beautiful this year, I think.:biggrin:

 

[Crohn's 35]

I have to say, most of your story is very familiar. But my exploratory surgery took out my appendix. My sisters one who has UC and CD the other hypothryoid and another brother with UC and my father had diabetes, controlled by diet. One of the reasons I dont want to be on Pred any more is because there is a risk of diabetes. Have kept my weight down for the most part but still go about another 30 to go, doing it very slow, have no choice.

Sorry but I couldnt help but laugh where you were from because it reminds me of Dorothy on the wizard of oz saying "I kept forgetting we are not in Kansas anymore" LOL. Glad you are here, and it is true not such thing as text book, except my BP, dont ask me how I do it LOL. Hope you feel at home here!

 

[woops!]

Welcome, I'm glad your here. I love this site. You can say pretty much anything, and there will be someone on here who will understand. I have found that no one here belittles me, or ignores what your feeling. Welcome.

 

[Keona]

welcome sunflower

 

[Dexky]

Hi Sunflower, my bro in law used to live in Liberal KS. Are you anywhere near there? Anyway welcome to the forum. You'll definitely be an asset with your experience.

 

[Nancy Lee]

Hello and welcome Sunflower!!
Hope to see you around the forum.
Hugs~Nancy :thumleft:

 

[DustyKat]

Hi and :welcome: Good to have you here.

 

[sunflower]

Hi everyone and thanks for the warm welcome!

Dexky, Liberal and I are pretty far apart,but it is still closer than a lot of other places! Liberal is west and I am east. South of Kansas City.

By the way, this was taken a couple of months after getting out of the hospital (twice) and having to be on iv steriods. Dig those cheeks and my double chin!! I am heavy due to pred use, but I don't normally look this bad! It is sad that the treatment causes such chaos in our bodies.

 

[Astra]

Sunflower!

you're just lovely, Pred or no Pred, remember that!
xxxx

 

[Regular Joe]

Welcome Sunflower.

Sounds like I might reconsider moving to Kansas from Cleveland!

You sound like a fun person. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your stories.

Joe

 

[Dexky]

I'm surprised by my in-laws descriptions of the wind that a sunflower can even stand up long enough to mature. Not to mention it is tornado alley. Of course that alley seems to have shifted east over the last few years.

 

[Crohn's 35]

Ha, my mom was visiting and tried to plant 5 sunflower seeds, only one came up, the others, my cat used it as a litter...bad Oscar!

 

[sunflower]

Thank you Astra101 for the nice compliment!

Hey Joe, if you don't like weather, don't move to Kansas! LOL!! We definately have weather. I will however, try to share more stories. I see things in a twisted sort of way where I can find humor in a lot of things! LOL I even have funny stories about IV's!

Dexky, I agree. Tornado alley has shifted a bit to the east. Thank goodness. A few years ago, we had tornados all over the place! You could watch a storm and see a tornado drop out. They didn't touch ground, bu they were there. I live in SE Kansas and it isn't as windy or flat here. Spring and fall are definately a battle between north and south and are very windy, though. Western Kansas has wind that never stops. I used to live out there. It wakes you up in the night if the wind stops.

Jettalady, the sunflowers growing wild in Kansas do not look like what most people think. They are tall, but the flowers are small and cheery. They are not the giant, magnificent blooms that produce tons of seeds that you see pictures of. Those are only found in fields where they are growing sunflowers. I will try to snap a pic of some when they start blooming. Usually we are traveling in the car going somewhere, so it might be tough. But, I will try.