Newly diagnosed at 16

Hey everyone!
I was recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease at the age of 16 and thought I would share my story.
in 7th grade my physician did growth studies on me and found that i was off the charts ( in a bad way) . i was 4' 10" 75 ibs and barely growing. nothing was done about the problem since they just thought i was a late bloomer. throughout February i had been having problems ( nothing new to me since i have had giardia and what was thought to be lactose intollerance) but dismissed all symptoms until one morning i couldn't move. I went to the E.R. for a possible appendicitis but after a CT scan they saw that my small intestine was swollen almost completely shut. They put me on flagyl for an infection and i went home. a few days later i went to a GI and he wanted to admit me to the hospital for a CT scan, MRI, colonoscopy and endoscopy ( intestine was so swollen they couldn't get through. they also took 6 biopsies) they finally diagnosed me with Chron's and put me on steroids, pentasa, bentyl, flagyl and a few other medications but nothing seemed to help. so I had a resection done of my terminal ileum and part of my colon. Overall I had about 10 inches resected and stayed in the hospital for a total of 18 days ( 4 days post-op). The surgery was the best decision I could have made since it was either the resection or Remicade. I have a doctors appointment this week to discuss the specifics of my Maintence medications. thanks everyone for letting me share!

Hey Colt and welcome! I'm so glad you joined our forum and shared your story.

When you go in for that doctors appointment, you may want to discuss vitamin B12 with them. I say this because the terminal ileum is where that is absorbed and since you had that much removed, chances are you're going to use up your body's stores of vitamin B12 and become deficient over time (if you're not already). As such, you'll want to be tested somewhat regularly and likely supplement it. Becoming deficient in B12 is really bad news to be proactive on this and talk to your doctor.

Please keep us updated on your progress and we're here for you anytime bud.

Hi Colt, so sorry you have gone though alot lately. Glad you joined this site there are alot of people here who will help you along the way.

Hello and :welcome: to the forum, that is certainly a lot to have gone through hun and I hope that things did go smoothly with the op. Have a good nosy around the forum, there is a lot of helpful info and support here for you.

Wishing you well soon and do keep us updated on how you are doing.

xx

Thanks guys for your support!


David, my docotrs had discussed the B-12 injections before the surgery and im guessing we will talk about it again at my next appt. The surgen said that she thought there was enough Ileum left maintain healthy B-12 levels, but chances are i will be tested before any final decisions are made. thanks again!