I have been "lurking" and reading for a few weeks, and thought I'd join in.
I am 58, and in pretty good health (or thought so!)
In the summer of 2007 I started having bad D - was in a very stressful time. I had a colonoscopy that showed I had diverticula, but not to bad. D continued off and on from then to now. I had a bad bought with diverticulitis in Nov 2009. In Feb of 2010 I was tested for Celiac - negative. Went off all dairy for a couple of weeks and the D went away! Diagnosis - lactose intolerant. That seemed like an easy fix, and I was happy with it.... but then off an on I would have abdominal pain and D. I kept thinking I must have got some dairy and not realized.
Week after Christmas 2011 I felt really bad - a lot of spasm type pain in my stomach - out of the blue it would feel like someone hit me as hard as they could. Saw the dr. on Jan. 3rd and was scheduled for and endoscope. Had that in Feb, and showed a hiatal hernia, Barratt's Esophagus and no H pylori. Was then scheduled for a colonoscopy in March. Three days before I was to have that I ended up in the ER with diverticulitis. They did 2 CT scans, and said there is an area of suspected Crohn's. The colonoscopy was rescheduled for May 7th.
On April 10th my abdomen started hurting at 3pm. The pain increased fast and bad, and fever of 100, vomiting, and by 8 pm I was in the ER. They did a CT scan, showed total intestinal blockage. I was admitted to the hospital and put on IV prednisone & antibiotics, and given pain meds as needed. On the 13th I was feeling much better - no pain, but still D. They did another CT scan - showed an abscess and still the area suspicious for Crohn's.
The surgeon said that all he could do is operate to remove the abscess, but he does not like to operate on people who have or may have Crohn's - he said any time you can avoid a surgery you should. He said I needed to go to UW Medical Center in WA, where there was a very good chance they could drain the abscess and avoid surgery.
That night I was medivaced to Seattle and taken to UW Medical Center. I spent 5 days there. They were not able to get a drain in the abscess, and they also did not want to do surgery. they are hoping with meds the abscess will self resolve. After a total of 8 days on IV antibiotics and prednisone, I was able to go home on oral meds and a low fiber / low resolution diet. 16 days total on antibiotics, and I don't know when I will come off the prednisone.
I have appointments with a GI in Anchorage on May 8 for an initial visit, and on the 9th for the colonoscopy and biopsy. I am keeping my fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong and this will get done!
I appreciate reading all of the comments on these boards. I know that at my age I am late coming into IBD. I am finding so much good information, and really enjoy the humor, too.
I am 58, and in pretty good health (or thought so!)
In the summer of 2007 I started having bad D - was in a very stressful time. I had a colonoscopy that showed I had diverticula, but not to bad. D continued off and on from then to now. I had a bad bought with diverticulitis in Nov 2009. In Feb of 2010 I was tested for Celiac - negative. Went off all dairy for a couple of weeks and the D went away! Diagnosis - lactose intolerant. That seemed like an easy fix, and I was happy with it.... but then off an on I would have abdominal pain and D. I kept thinking I must have got some dairy and not realized.
Week after Christmas 2011 I felt really bad - a lot of spasm type pain in my stomach - out of the blue it would feel like someone hit me as hard as they could. Saw the dr. on Jan. 3rd and was scheduled for and endoscope. Had that in Feb, and showed a hiatal hernia, Barratt's Esophagus and no H pylori. Was then scheduled for a colonoscopy in March. Three days before I was to have that I ended up in the ER with diverticulitis. They did 2 CT scans, and said there is an area of suspected Crohn's. The colonoscopy was rescheduled for May 7th.
On April 10th my abdomen started hurting at 3pm. The pain increased fast and bad, and fever of 100, vomiting, and by 8 pm I was in the ER. They did a CT scan, showed total intestinal blockage. I was admitted to the hospital and put on IV prednisone & antibiotics, and given pain meds as needed. On the 13th I was feeling much better - no pain, but still D. They did another CT scan - showed an abscess and still the area suspicious for Crohn's.
The surgeon said that all he could do is operate to remove the abscess, but he does not like to operate on people who have or may have Crohn's - he said any time you can avoid a surgery you should. He said I needed to go to UW Medical Center in WA, where there was a very good chance they could drain the abscess and avoid surgery.
That night I was medivaced to Seattle and taken to UW Medical Center. I spent 5 days there. They were not able to get a drain in the abscess, and they also did not want to do surgery. they are hoping with meds the abscess will self resolve. After a total of 8 days on IV antibiotics and prednisone, I was able to go home on oral meds and a low fiber / low resolution diet. 16 days total on antibiotics, and I don't know when I will come off the prednisone.
I have appointments with a GI in Anchorage on May 8 for an initial visit, and on the 9th for the colonoscopy and biopsy. I am keeping my fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong and this will get done!
I appreciate reading all of the comments on these boards. I know that at my age I am late coming into IBD. I am finding so much good information, and really enjoy the humor, too.
