Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Small Bowel Follow Through Results

Well, a week ago I finally got the results of my Small Bowel Follow Through. Yeah, the one I got months ago! Turns out that Dr. GI had sent it to my surgeon for some feedback and then both offices promptly forgot about me. Since I had been feeling pretty good I wasn't in a big rush to call about it... but I started to run out of 5ASA and so I had to call Dr. GI and make an apt.

So, it turns out I have Crohn's Disease!! No kidding! *laughs* Well, it did again confirm Crohn's in my ileum, and it also showed the abdominal fistula that gave birth to my abscess that started this whole adventure last summer. So, the doctor wanted to confirm with my surgeon that it was the same one. It was. And it's slowly healing up which is good.

I told Dr. GI that I was feeling quite excellent except for some faint pains once in a while. So he said we would hold off on the more powerful drugs like Remicaide and continue with the 5ASA and see if we can learn the pattern that my Crohn's will take. I mentioned my ongoing food sensitivities (half of a bland single-serving cup of canned-pears sent me to the washroom for 3 days when I experimented with them 3 weeks ago). He said it's probably my Crohn's causing the sensitivity or it could be that I have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) too! Oh no, I thought I had trumped IBS when I was diagnosed with Crohn's! Anyway, I also can't eat anything with a hint of spice or acid or any dairy at all, so he is sending me for a lactose tolerance test in about 2 months.

So, I came out of there feeling pretty happy, but wouldn't you know it... I'm getting stronger-than-faint pains again which is NOT cool. This is exacerbated by the fact that I've been a bit stressed and very sick with the neverending-cold for TWO FREAKIN MONTHS! That's right, even a dose of antibiotics didn't get rid of this horrid infection that seems to fade till I'm almost perfect then comes back at me with a sore throat, or coughing or runny nose. Or all of the above. Yeah, coughing repeatedly doesn't feel so good on the abdomen. I've also been eating risky foods lately as my friends and I celebrated our Christmas last weekend. So... I'm not really helping the situation. Time to smarten up and observe these pains and see what's going on.

So, that's what's new. I've been keeping busy too so that's great. Sick of this snow.

Also I'm still trying to organize an online Chat with fellow IBD sufferers, but you have to contact me if you're interested so I can let you know the info. So far, I only have one person interested (fellow Crohn's blogger Jenni), so let me know if you're interested too otherwise I won't go to the trouble.

Thanks for reading!

5 comments:

  1. hi, you seem well informed about Crohn's. I'd just suggest you ask your GI about current research which shows that moving directly to stronger meds right away *might* be a better choice. I'd be a little concerned about a doctor saying "lets see what your pattern is". The research seems to show that the A-1 issue is inducing and maintaining remission. Letting you flare "just to see" seems like a bad idea. (A failed treatment is a different story.) Just my 2-cents.

    (sorry, posting with my google account won't work. so this is kinda anoymous.)

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  2. Thanks for the comment Joelm! You do have a good point, but I've also heard about several risks and potential side effects of Remicaide, so I'm not in a big rush to try it if I feel well for now. I will bring up your perspective to my Dr. next visit and see what he says about that approach though. Thanks!

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  3. WAIT!!! Don't pull out the big guns just yet. You are young and you may need this stronger medication later and it may not work as well later on once you have used it. If you can just chill for a while where you are. If you aren't having too bad of symptoms then please wait. Which I think you already decided to do.
    Also - thanks for the advice on the accupuncture/pressure. I'm considering that. HUGS!!!

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  4. Yeah, I'm not in a rush to pull out the big guns! *laughs*. Glad I could offer some helpful suggestions! I would try acupressure first, b/c there's no needles! :)

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  5. My 10 year old son is on remicaide. He has done wonders for him.

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