I have been fighting Crohns disease now for over ten years now and have finally arrived at a point of accepting the fact that I am never going to be normal again. My Crohns story starts over ten years ago at age 50 when I went to a Doc in a box complaining of constipation and severe abdominal pain. I was given what was a new drug at the time called Propulsid and was told that the drug would work better than a laxative because it would make my intestines squeeze harder and help me move the stools through my intestines. Less than a week later several diverticulum in my large intestine perforated and I was hospitalized for fecal matter in my abdomen. After several hospitalizations they removed 18 inches of my large intestines due to massive scarring. The drug has been removed from the market. The “doc” turned out to be a Physicians’ assistant and I was told that she had moved out of state when I got out of the hospital.
I spent the next six years thinking that I was trying to keep from perforating another Diverticulum, lots of pain, etc. I did ok but the associated issues kept getting worse until I started doing stints in the hospital again with more surgeries including a 6 inch resection of my small intestine to remove scar tissue and a confirmation that I have Crohns. It appears now that I had Crohns when I went to that doc in a box but things got distracted to the diverticulum when they got blown out from the drug. Over the last couple of years I have come to have a better understanding of my issues and think that I have been suffering for a long time but fought it in fear of getting hurt by another hack that took a shortcut to treating people’s ills. I now work with a team of doctors in a large city (Denver, CO). They include surgeons, GIs ,etc.
I have gone through the standard drugs like Entocort and have moved on to Remicade. I have had a couple of infusions with no relief yet.
I spent the next six years thinking that I was trying to keep from perforating another Diverticulum, lots of pain, etc. I did ok but the associated issues kept getting worse until I started doing stints in the hospital again with more surgeries including a 6 inch resection of my small intestine to remove scar tissue and a confirmation that I have Crohns. It appears now that I had Crohns when I went to that doc in a box but things got distracted to the diverticulum when they got blown out from the drug. Over the last couple of years I have come to have a better understanding of my issues and think that I have been suffering for a long time but fought it in fear of getting hurt by another hack that took a shortcut to treating people’s ills. I now work with a team of doctors in a large city (Denver, CO). They include surgeons, GIs ,etc.
I have gone through the standard drugs like Entocort and have moved on to Remicade. I have had a couple of infusions with no relief yet.
