- Joined
- Apr 26, 2012
- Messages
- 12
It's a bit of a long story but i'm sure people still read these days. It all started last year about september, when there were restless nights or stomach cramping but i got on with it, but eventually went to the hospital, got checked for Appendicitis, no tell tail signs, so it was put down to a bit of constipation and given some liquid lax. Lovely. A few week later on the way to university i almost couldn't walk because of a pain in the lower right of my abdomen so there and then i googled it, as you do, and saw that a lot of symptoms were pointing to appendicitis. The same day i got the train home early and admitted myself to A&E/ER the next day, and was told that it now looked and sounded like appendicitis. I am the "ripe" age for it apparently (18). The appendectomy started off as key hole surgery but the vein that connects to appendix to the rest of you was nicked prematurely and started to bleed into my stomach cavity. The surgery was turned to open and i was stapled up and sent home two days later.
About 2 weeks later after vomiting, even worse pain than the previous symptoms and about 2 stone or about 25kg of weight loss, my drainage scar bust open with infection, so i was administered with some antibiotics (Augmentin, Co-Amoxiclav). Not even a week later, and without finishing my course of antibiotics, my actual 3 inch open surgery wound burst open with smelly light brown puss. Back into hospital again! They were able to pull apart the scar as it was still not full healed where the tract had formed. After about an hour of probing, pull and pushing (without pain relief i might add) to find and pockets of puss that could be found, squeezed and disinfected with iodine, I was put on IV metronidazole to get rid of anything septic in my blood and try and clear up the infection. I was sent home 3 days later with the all clear and more pills to swallow.
A month later to the day later, the same thing happens, 1 day after new years, so i'm glad i got to celebrate it. More squeezing and a different swab test with different bug results and a new IV of tazocin. It all looked like it was clearing up again, but with no surprise, it burst open again, sooner than later. This time, instead of going to hospital, i'd learnt by now how to easily change my dressings and really couldn't be bothered with hospitals any more. I was not showing signs of septicaemia this time as a sinus had been created under my skin and protected itself from my blood stream so i could cope with it and just go back and forth with my consultant.
He gave me an ultrasound scan to see where the tract was leading to and then i get a question from the radiologist i wasn't expecting, "have you got any history of bowel disease in your family?" I was stunned, i went in with one problem and seemingly left with another. Obviously they're only there to do the scan, not diagnose me so i had to wait to see my consultant. He told me to try another 6 weeks of metronidazole and ciprofloxacin to really see if i could beat this infection. He said the ultrasound might look like that because of where the infection is, making the whole area look inflamed, so i was relieved to say the least. The wound however still didn't heal and there was still discharge. The antibiotics were giving me some really schizophrenic bowels as a few days at a time i couldn't leave the toilet for ages at one time and couldn't wait to get in there at other times.
Next i was given a small bowel barium meal. Only took an hour as i went to toilet just after i drank the "tequila" they promised haha, which obviously got everything moving in the right direction. The scan i was told looked typical of Crohn's in the small bowel. I had discussed the possibility of IBD with my consultant before but he wasn't convinced it was as i'd had more than one ultrasound and they showed up differently and under the circumstances of the infection, it could just be a bit of inflammation. He then prescribes me the first antibiotics i was on and low and behold, the scar has dried up and healed, this is only as of last weeks though so im not getting my hopes up too much. Monday i had a CT scan, which added more evidence to the possible Crohn's diagnosis which i could get soon. My consultant is still not convinced, as i'm not showing many signs of Crohn's, just some stomach aches. My bowels have only ever been strange when on antibiotics, but he has booked me a colonoscopy with biopsy and passed me on to a specialist for IBD just in case.
It's been 6 months of hell, having to be deferred from uni until the next year, having my student finance cancelled and having to pay rent by getting a partial refund on my course fees, but it will be interesting to see if the infection has gone and if the abdomen pains go away with it, leaving me with the bowel i started off with. Hope i didn't bore you all, thanks if you read
About 2 weeks later after vomiting, even worse pain than the previous symptoms and about 2 stone or about 25kg of weight loss, my drainage scar bust open with infection, so i was administered with some antibiotics (Augmentin, Co-Amoxiclav). Not even a week later, and without finishing my course of antibiotics, my actual 3 inch open surgery wound burst open with smelly light brown puss. Back into hospital again! They were able to pull apart the scar as it was still not full healed where the tract had formed. After about an hour of probing, pull and pushing (without pain relief i might add) to find and pockets of puss that could be found, squeezed and disinfected with iodine, I was put on IV metronidazole to get rid of anything septic in my blood and try and clear up the infection. I was sent home 3 days later with the all clear and more pills to swallow.
A month later to the day later, the same thing happens, 1 day after new years, so i'm glad i got to celebrate it. More squeezing and a different swab test with different bug results and a new IV of tazocin. It all looked like it was clearing up again, but with no surprise, it burst open again, sooner than later. This time, instead of going to hospital, i'd learnt by now how to easily change my dressings and really couldn't be bothered with hospitals any more. I was not showing signs of septicaemia this time as a sinus had been created under my skin and protected itself from my blood stream so i could cope with it and just go back and forth with my consultant.
He gave me an ultrasound scan to see where the tract was leading to and then i get a question from the radiologist i wasn't expecting, "have you got any history of bowel disease in your family?" I was stunned, i went in with one problem and seemingly left with another. Obviously they're only there to do the scan, not diagnose me so i had to wait to see my consultant. He told me to try another 6 weeks of metronidazole and ciprofloxacin to really see if i could beat this infection. He said the ultrasound might look like that because of where the infection is, making the whole area look inflamed, so i was relieved to say the least. The wound however still didn't heal and there was still discharge. The antibiotics were giving me some really schizophrenic bowels as a few days at a time i couldn't leave the toilet for ages at one time and couldn't wait to get in there at other times.
Next i was given a small bowel barium meal. Only took an hour as i went to toilet just after i drank the "tequila" they promised haha, which obviously got everything moving in the right direction. The scan i was told looked typical of Crohn's in the small bowel. I had discussed the possibility of IBD with my consultant before but he wasn't convinced it was as i'd had more than one ultrasound and they showed up differently and under the circumstances of the infection, it could just be a bit of inflammation. He then prescribes me the first antibiotics i was on and low and behold, the scar has dried up and healed, this is only as of last weeks though so im not getting my hopes up too much. Monday i had a CT scan, which added more evidence to the possible Crohn's diagnosis which i could get soon. My consultant is still not convinced, as i'm not showing many signs of Crohn's, just some stomach aches. My bowels have only ever been strange when on antibiotics, but he has booked me a colonoscopy with biopsy and passed me on to a specialist for IBD just in case.
It's been 6 months of hell, having to be deferred from uni until the next year, having my student finance cancelled and having to pay rent by getting a partial refund on my course fees, but it will be interesting to see if the infection has gone and if the abdomen pains go away with it, leaving me with the bowel i started off with. Hope i didn't bore you all, thanks if you read
