Have to agree with Skinsfan.. apparently (according to my latest GI's thinking) I've had some form of IBD for 17+ years (she suspects longer, that I may have slowly been developing it way before my symptoms demanded I seek medical attention). My longest 'remission' was nearly a decade. I'd started with bleeding, diarhea and chronic cramping... they found proctitis, open fissures and diverticulitis.. but I was put on steroid enemas for 45 days.. and all my symptoms just went away for nearly 10 years. I didn't need medication, I wasn't placed on a special diet, and I was able to eat/drink whatever I felt like with no 'symptomatic' consequences. Its like my immune system went a little haywire, and the steroids kicked it back into a 'normal' (perhaps nominal or typical is better term) state of digestive health. Was I 'cured'? Well, that's a pretty 'subjective' term. It eventually all came back, so I don't think that 'cured' is a fit term for it. (think anyone with IBD is leery of the term 'cured'). So, to me... remission is a state where life goes back, even if its only temporary, to where it was before I became symptomatic (and diagnosed)... After my 10 year hiatus from IBD, my next remission lasted 5 years... the next one lasted about 4 - 5 months (post op).. the last one lasted less than 2 months... (looking at it from my perspective, those diminishing returns seem pessimistic, but just because in my case each 'remission' lasted way less than the previous one is not something I find alarming - figure with each 'relapse' I learn more about IBD, AND everybody is different - so the next person with IBD may experience just the opposite). Now, the confusing part of this illness (at least from my vantage point) is that I have good spells (where I remain symptomatic but continue to improve or avoid 'flare-ups') by following my regimen of medication and diet, etc. etc, and I've also experienced 'bad' days (sometimes without warning, others where I've failed to follow a regimen that typically works - ie missed some meds, broke my diet, etc) AND sort of 'blah' days... where I'm neither going uphill or down, just standing pat where I am despite being a good boy, eating right, taking my meds, so on...
Again, this is all very 'subjective'... based purely on how I see my illness and it's course/direction. Others may have a totally different take on it. I do recall that I felt absolutely fantastic when, after my most recent op, my surgeon at the time told me I was 'cured'.. He told me that I had a rare form of diverticlur associated colitis, and that surgically removing that area of my colon meant that I was cured, I could go home, recuperate, and forget all about colitis, crohns or otherwise. It lasted approx 7 - 8 weeks. When it all came back, out of the blue, I just wasn't prepared for the depression I felt... Now I've been diagnosed with an 'incurable' form of colitis, I've come to terms with that. The word 'cured' is no longer part of my vocabulary, and I accept/acknowledge that... And am comfortable with concept
(or my own definition of it) of achieving, prolonging and maintaining 'remission'. OK
