Worried about my brother

Crohn's Disease Forum

Help Support Crohn's Disease Forum:

Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
1
Hi, I'm new to the forum, but not new to Crohn's disease. My father has had it since he was young, and both of my brothers have it as well. We are fairly certain that my father's grandfather and one of my father's uncles both died from it, though we can't be completely sure of that.

My 26 year old brother just had a bowel resection on June 7th. Everything seemed to be going well for about a week, when he developed bad pain, a fever, and looked pale as death. We took him to the ER, and the ER doctor as well as his surgeon tried to send him home. He refused to be discharged because we all knew something wasn't right, and within a few hours he was in the ICU with a massive internal hemorrhage. Three bags of blood and several days later, he seemed to be getting better.

Until the June 23rd. He developed a high fever and pain again. He was seeing his surgeon for an appt the next day, so he went in, and the surgeon claimed his 103 fever was "probably just a virus." Again, not trusting that, we took him to the ER. It turns out he has an abscess at his surgery site. They initially said, well, we'll try to drain it with a needle, but if that doesn't work, you'll need more surgery.

Now the surgeon is saying that he absolutely will not operate on my brother for at least 3 to 6 months (because of potential scar tissue formation?) and that he has to have IV nutrition that whole time. And that insurance won't cover this unless he his homebound....so what is he supposed to do? Go back to work teaching high school in the fall with an IV in? Lose his job?

So is he supposed to just have this abscess for 3 months? Have a 103 fever for 3 months? Fever reducers aren't bringing it down.

I am encouraging my brother and my parents to seek a second opinion from a different surgical group, and we are trying to contact his GI for advice as well, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience or advice with these kind of complications from resection.

I almost lost my brother two weeks ago when he hemorrhaged and I can't stand the thought of him being put in any more danger than absolutely necessary because of this dumb surgeon or because of any mistakes of our own. Any advice at all is appreciated!!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum!
Your family most certainly has a family history of Crohn's!
I am so sorry to hear your brother is having a bad time of it.
Perhaps your GI would send him for a second opinion to another doctor?
You must be very worried and frustrated.

Here is the link to our Surgery Forum...
maybe you will get some answers in there. -
http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=71

Please keep us posted as to how your brother does!!
Once again welcome~Nancy
 
Hi and welcome! I am so sorry to hear about your brother's struggles right after having surgery. But he is very lucky to have such a caring and supportive sister. And that is just what he needs right now.

I know you want to address his pain and abscess immediately, but since he just had surgery, I bet that is why his doctor is waiting on doing anything right this moment. However, I am certainly no doctor. So, it would probably be a good idea to get that second opinion you want.

I sure hope appropriate action will be taken soon to help your brother feel better. Please keep us posted!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top