This is the third time I have attempted to write my story. I will try to make it brief!
Please allow me to begin by saying that I have been lurking in the shadows for quite some time. This is an amazing forum of internet friends and information. I hope that I can be as much support and wisdom to others as many of you have been to me!
In 2001 I developed what I thought to be a boil in my bum. At the time I worked in the ER, so I clocked out and had it looked at. They drained a little fluid out of it and told me to see my PCP. Once I got in, he took one look at it and said it was a fissure that needed to be opened up, so he referred me to a surgeon.
The day that I went back to work from the fistulectomy, I began to vomit. Ya gotta know me..I don’t vomit! I let it go on for a short while before I headed back to the Dr. He immediately referred me to a GI doc. After several tests I was diagnosed with Crohn’s. I was put on Asacol and Imuran. At some point during treatment I was also on Remicade.
I left my job at the hospital (for love) and moved far, far away, Leaving me uninsured. I stopped taking my meds and became VERY ill. In Feb. 2002 I was admitted for IV antibiotics, but that didn’t help long. In May I received a call from my GI doc stating that an abscess had been found and I needed immediate surgery. So That’s what I did! Except, instead of one abscess, they found FIVE! They also removed my appendix and ovaries while they were in there (I had polycystic ovary syndrome).
Life was great for almost 5 years post op. Then, in late 2007, the flare began again. We tried drugs, steroids, study drugs, and nothing was working. I reached my threshold, and in Dec 2008 I had my second resection.
After only a hand full of months, I’m in the beginning stages of another flare. I’m fighting with all my might as I’ve been told that I only have enough intestine left for one, maybe two more surgeries before I’m colostomy bound.
I’m about to begin the SCDiet (as soon as I can get the yogurt maker). I’m currently taking Pentasa and Cimzia in addition to Calcium with Vitamin D, multivitamin, and folic acid.
Please allow me to begin by saying that I have been lurking in the shadows for quite some time. This is an amazing forum of internet friends and information. I hope that I can be as much support and wisdom to others as many of you have been to me!
In 2001 I developed what I thought to be a boil in my bum. At the time I worked in the ER, so I clocked out and had it looked at. They drained a little fluid out of it and told me to see my PCP. Once I got in, he took one look at it and said it was a fissure that needed to be opened up, so he referred me to a surgeon.
The day that I went back to work from the fistulectomy, I began to vomit. Ya gotta know me..I don’t vomit! I let it go on for a short while before I headed back to the Dr. He immediately referred me to a GI doc. After several tests I was diagnosed with Crohn’s. I was put on Asacol and Imuran. At some point during treatment I was also on Remicade.
I left my job at the hospital (for love) and moved far, far away, Leaving me uninsured. I stopped taking my meds and became VERY ill. In Feb. 2002 I was admitted for IV antibiotics, but that didn’t help long. In May I received a call from my GI doc stating that an abscess had been found and I needed immediate surgery. So That’s what I did! Except, instead of one abscess, they found FIVE! They also removed my appendix and ovaries while they were in there (I had polycystic ovary syndrome).
Life was great for almost 5 years post op. Then, in late 2007, the flare began again. We tried drugs, steroids, study drugs, and nothing was working. I reached my threshold, and in Dec 2008 I had my second resection.
After only a hand full of months, I’m in the beginning stages of another flare. I’m fighting with all my might as I’ve been told that I only have enough intestine left for one, maybe two more surgeries before I’m colostomy bound.
I’m about to begin the SCDiet (as soon as I can get the yogurt maker). I’m currently taking Pentasa and Cimzia in addition to Calcium with Vitamin D, multivitamin, and folic acid.
