- Joined
- Jul 2, 2009
- Messages
- 7
Hello everyone.
I have not yet been diagnosed with Crohn’s and am scared, nervous, exhausted, and in pain. I have always had “stomach issues” and lost a lot of weight (147 lbs over 6 1/2 years) a few years back making me need a gallbladder removal in ‘06. Well, after that, I attributed some of my tummy issues to not having my gallbladder. Well, last year I began working out religiously and built quite a lot of muscle. I was probably the strongest I’ve been in my short little life (I’m 34) up until March of this year. In March of 2009, I began having some HORRIBLE hemorrhoid trouble and began bleeding a lot when I went to the bathroom. By the time I made it to the doc, they referred me to a colon/rectal surgeon who wanted to do a hemorrhoidectomy immediately. He said they were really bad and warned me of a rough recovery from this surgery. On 3/12/09, I had the surgery and indeed had a ROUGH recovery. I’m still not “well”. Well, in April, I wasn’t getting better and began running a 104.1 fever. Went back to the same doc because I couldn’t sit on the right side of my bottom and he suspected an anorectal abscess. He also explained that due to the healing issues and the abscess that he suspects I may have Crohn’s but couldn’t tell me for sure until I’m completely healed from all this so he could do a colonoscopy. On 5/6/09, I had another surgery after running the 104 fever off and on (Ibuprofen made it go down for periods of time) for 4 days. The doc said the wound site has to be left open to heal from the inside out and I still have drainage coming from the site even though it is healing/closing SLOWLY.
In the meantime, I have begun to experience other symptoms and have been in urgent care once and to see my internist twice. Here’s what happened there….
On 5/20/09, I noticed 2 nodule like marks on the back of my right calf, looked almost like spider bites. Then, the next day the leg began to swell and I mean ACHE and it became increasingly hard to walk. So, on 5/23, I took myself to urgent care and the doc there diagnosed me with cellulitis/infection. She gave me a shot of rocephen in my bottom, a 7 day round of bactrim, and a 3 day round of prednisone. Well, it got some better but when the prednisone got out of my system it came back with a vengeance and the swelling and stiffness came back in both ankles, my right knee, right hand, neck, and hips. It must be what horrible arthritis feels like because I felt like I could barely move my bottom half. So, on 6/1, I went to see my internist who stated he does not think it is/was infection and thinks along the lines of the surgeon that it’s autoimmune, quite possibly Crohn’s. So, he did blood work and asked me to come back on 6/8. On 6/8, he said all my labs were fine and sent me with a copy and told me to follow up with a colonoscopy with the surgeon and that might shed more light. Well, I got home and looked at the blood work paper copy that he provided and noticed that the ANA was negative, rheumatoid factor was negative, BUT the c-reactive protein was 62.2 (should be between 0.0 and 4.9) and I had an elevated sedimentary rate of 28. So, to me, that’s NOT fine!!! …especially since those 2 results indicate inflammation, if I’m not mistaken after some research.
I went back to my colon/rectal surgeon on 6/19 and he said that even though I'm still healing and draining from the rectal abscess, he wanted to go ahead with the colonoscopy and he also referred me to an infectious disease specialist after seeing the blood work from my PCP that I brought in for him to see.
On 6/24/09, I went to see the infectious disease doc and he scheduled me for a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis to look for signs of infection as well as drew blood for CBC and blood cultures to see if there's any sort of bacteria in my blood stream.
On 6/25/09, I had my very first colonoscopy. Afterward, my doc told me that he did believe it to be Crohn's but he would wait for the tissue biopsy to come back in order to confirm his suspicion. Make an appointment in 2 weeks to come in and discuss and if the diagnosis is confirmed, we'd discuss medications, etc. Oh and he put me on a low residue diet.
Now, the joint pain is HORRIBLE still and the swelling is off the charts. My belly is ok but not well, it's manageable. …but the bottom pain from surgery that is still healing is so sore that if I move wrong, I want to throw up. I'm still exhausted, still have the mouth ulcers and have lots of mucous when I go to the bathroom. I even noticed 2 days ago that when I tried to push, I had a long stream of forceful gas that came out and when I wiped, I had a clearish, glop of mucous on the toilet tissue and it smelled foul! ….not like poop, just foul. That's not normal!!!
So, I go back to my surgeon now on 7/7 (next Tuesday) and I'm about to come out of my skin to know the results of all these tests and have heard from no one. Meanwhile, I'm growing more and more emotional about all of it because I am tired of generally feeling sick and tired all the time and not feeling like my otherwise very active and happy self. I'm so frustrated!
Here is a list of the symptoms I have developed. I would like to run them by the folks here to see if I’m completely crazy or not, but I started with an upset tummy and some hemorrhoids…..where did all this come from, not to mention that I’m exhausted all the time now!
1.) I have periodic mouth ulcers on my gums and the lining inside of my bottom lip at times. At one time about a month ago, I had 15 at one time. Right now, I have 1.
2.) Diarrhea - strong and sometimes painful urge to push, blood and mucous mixed in my stool, blood when wiping sometimes, sometimes when hard to push, only a little mucous ball comes out and it hurts
3.) Gas: gas pains, bloating in belly, sometimes the gas is hard to pass and it’s forceful
4.) Belly pain: cramping and spasms
5.) Bottom pain and Drainage: no better at during healing process from abscess drainage and sometimes I get nauseated when it hurts very badly or I sit too long, very difficult to get comfortable when sitting
6.) Joint pain and severe swelling of both ankles, toes, right knee, right hand, sometimes hips, hard time walking and with stairs as a result of this
7.) 2 nodules on the back of right calf that have not gone away and are a little pinkish still, they were reddish and then became a little bluish
8.) I am tired ALL THE TIME, to the point of exhaustion, go to bed tired and wake up tired, don’t feel like doing much and I am normally a very active person
9.) Becoming depressed more and more, I’ve noticed, just down and feeling defeated and that is not like me either.
Anything anyone has to offer would be much appreciated. Like I said, I am going back to my surgeon for a follow up next week but I figured maybe talking with some folks that understand would keep me sane in the meantime!?!
Thanks so much.
Nicole
I have not yet been diagnosed with Crohn’s and am scared, nervous, exhausted, and in pain. I have always had “stomach issues” and lost a lot of weight (147 lbs over 6 1/2 years) a few years back making me need a gallbladder removal in ‘06. Well, after that, I attributed some of my tummy issues to not having my gallbladder. Well, last year I began working out religiously and built quite a lot of muscle. I was probably the strongest I’ve been in my short little life (I’m 34) up until March of this year. In March of 2009, I began having some HORRIBLE hemorrhoid trouble and began bleeding a lot when I went to the bathroom. By the time I made it to the doc, they referred me to a colon/rectal surgeon who wanted to do a hemorrhoidectomy immediately. He said they were really bad and warned me of a rough recovery from this surgery. On 3/12/09, I had the surgery and indeed had a ROUGH recovery. I’m still not “well”. Well, in April, I wasn’t getting better and began running a 104.1 fever. Went back to the same doc because I couldn’t sit on the right side of my bottom and he suspected an anorectal abscess. He also explained that due to the healing issues and the abscess that he suspects I may have Crohn’s but couldn’t tell me for sure until I’m completely healed from all this so he could do a colonoscopy. On 5/6/09, I had another surgery after running the 104 fever off and on (Ibuprofen made it go down for periods of time) for 4 days. The doc said the wound site has to be left open to heal from the inside out and I still have drainage coming from the site even though it is healing/closing SLOWLY.
In the meantime, I have begun to experience other symptoms and have been in urgent care once and to see my internist twice. Here’s what happened there….
On 5/20/09, I noticed 2 nodule like marks on the back of my right calf, looked almost like spider bites. Then, the next day the leg began to swell and I mean ACHE and it became increasingly hard to walk. So, on 5/23, I took myself to urgent care and the doc there diagnosed me with cellulitis/infection. She gave me a shot of rocephen in my bottom, a 7 day round of bactrim, and a 3 day round of prednisone. Well, it got some better but when the prednisone got out of my system it came back with a vengeance and the swelling and stiffness came back in both ankles, my right knee, right hand, neck, and hips. It must be what horrible arthritis feels like because I felt like I could barely move my bottom half. So, on 6/1, I went to see my internist who stated he does not think it is/was infection and thinks along the lines of the surgeon that it’s autoimmune, quite possibly Crohn’s. So, he did blood work and asked me to come back on 6/8. On 6/8, he said all my labs were fine and sent me with a copy and told me to follow up with a colonoscopy with the surgeon and that might shed more light. Well, I got home and looked at the blood work paper copy that he provided and noticed that the ANA was negative, rheumatoid factor was negative, BUT the c-reactive protein was 62.2 (should be between 0.0 and 4.9) and I had an elevated sedimentary rate of 28. So, to me, that’s NOT fine!!! …especially since those 2 results indicate inflammation, if I’m not mistaken after some research.
I went back to my colon/rectal surgeon on 6/19 and he said that even though I'm still healing and draining from the rectal abscess, he wanted to go ahead with the colonoscopy and he also referred me to an infectious disease specialist after seeing the blood work from my PCP that I brought in for him to see.
On 6/24/09, I went to see the infectious disease doc and he scheduled me for a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis to look for signs of infection as well as drew blood for CBC and blood cultures to see if there's any sort of bacteria in my blood stream.
On 6/25/09, I had my very first colonoscopy. Afterward, my doc told me that he did believe it to be Crohn's but he would wait for the tissue biopsy to come back in order to confirm his suspicion. Make an appointment in 2 weeks to come in and discuss and if the diagnosis is confirmed, we'd discuss medications, etc. Oh and he put me on a low residue diet.
Now, the joint pain is HORRIBLE still and the swelling is off the charts. My belly is ok but not well, it's manageable. …but the bottom pain from surgery that is still healing is so sore that if I move wrong, I want to throw up. I'm still exhausted, still have the mouth ulcers and have lots of mucous when I go to the bathroom. I even noticed 2 days ago that when I tried to push, I had a long stream of forceful gas that came out and when I wiped, I had a clearish, glop of mucous on the toilet tissue and it smelled foul! ….not like poop, just foul. That's not normal!!!
So, I go back to my surgeon now on 7/7 (next Tuesday) and I'm about to come out of my skin to know the results of all these tests and have heard from no one. Meanwhile, I'm growing more and more emotional about all of it because I am tired of generally feeling sick and tired all the time and not feeling like my otherwise very active and happy self. I'm so frustrated!
Here is a list of the symptoms I have developed. I would like to run them by the folks here to see if I’m completely crazy or not, but I started with an upset tummy and some hemorrhoids…..where did all this come from, not to mention that I’m exhausted all the time now!
1.) I have periodic mouth ulcers on my gums and the lining inside of my bottom lip at times. At one time about a month ago, I had 15 at one time. Right now, I have 1.
2.) Diarrhea - strong and sometimes painful urge to push, blood and mucous mixed in my stool, blood when wiping sometimes, sometimes when hard to push, only a little mucous ball comes out and it hurts
3.) Gas: gas pains, bloating in belly, sometimes the gas is hard to pass and it’s forceful
4.) Belly pain: cramping and spasms
5.) Bottom pain and Drainage: no better at during healing process from abscess drainage and sometimes I get nauseated when it hurts very badly or I sit too long, very difficult to get comfortable when sitting
6.) Joint pain and severe swelling of both ankles, toes, right knee, right hand, sometimes hips, hard time walking and with stairs as a result of this
7.) 2 nodules on the back of right calf that have not gone away and are a little pinkish still, they were reddish and then became a little bluish
8.) I am tired ALL THE TIME, to the point of exhaustion, go to bed tired and wake up tired, don’t feel like doing much and I am normally a very active person
9.) Becoming depressed more and more, I’ve noticed, just down and feeling defeated and that is not like me either.
Anything anyone has to offer would be much appreciated. Like I said, I am going back to my surgeon for a follow up next week but I figured maybe talking with some folks that understand would keep me sane in the meantime!?!
Thanks so much.
Nicole
