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Back in the hospital AGAIN!

Well after 6 weeks of virtually symptom free Crohn's, I had to go off the birth control patch for my period and I end up in the ER! So far I've spoken to the doctor, had an X-ray and am now Hooked up to IV and morphine. Thank heavens the pain is finally subsiding. I had to leave work at 10:15 this morning because the pain was making me ill.:stinks:
 
Hi Crohns Gal, sorry to hear that you have ended up back in hospital again, is it actually a new flare with your Crohns? Or to do with you coming off the birth control patch? I'm glad that they have started to get your pain under control anyway. Good to see that you are finally off the lovely prednisone, I am almost there am down to 2.5 mg. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Theresa. xoxo
 
Thanks Terry! Hope you feel better soon. The doctors and I are leaning toward an obstruction since I have a stricture I'm waiting to have resected. Seems like every time I have my period, I'm having Crohn's issues. This happened in May and July too. My OB/GYN put me on a 6 week patch schedule. So 6 weeks of patches, 1 week no patch for period, then 6 weeks of patches, etc. The past 6 weeks were great, other then my GI deciding I need to be on a low residue diet.
 
I hope for your sake that it isn't an obstruction, and that it just turns out to be connected to your periods. I guess at this stage you have no idea how long you will be in hospital for! Lets hope that they can get it all sorted quickly for you. I don't know if you saw my post last week but I saw my surgeon on the 3 of September and he has booked me in for a resection which is to be done in 90 days so early December at this stage. I am still having heaps of trouble with the oesophagus area, my GI says from the gastroscopy that he couldn't see any ulcers so he is calling it reflux!!! I don't agree as it is not responding to anything that he has tried ie.. double strength Nexium 40 mg x twice daily, Somac double strength 40 mg x twice daily, not working either. I don't think he knows how to treat it so he just hangs me out to dry!!! and if i'm in enough pain i'll come back. Anyway I hope they get you sorted soon. xoxo Theresa.
 
I hope for your sake that it isn't an obstruction, and that it just turns out to be connected to your periods. I guess at this stage you have no idea how long you will be in hospital for! Lets hope that they can get it all sorted quickly for you. I don't know if you saw my post last week but I saw my surgeon on the 3 of September and he has booked me in for a resection which is to be done in 90 days so early December at this stage. I am still having heaps of trouble with the oesophagus area, my GI says from the gastroscopy that he couldn't see any ulcers so he is calling it reflux!!! I don't agree as it is not responding to anything that he has tried ie.. double strength Nexium 40 mg x twice daily, Somac double strength 40 mg x twice daily, not working either. I don't think he knows how to treat it so he just hangs me out to dry!!! and if i'm in enough pain i'll come back. Anyway I hope they get you sorted soon. xoxo Theresa.
Sorry you're feeling so poorly. I have an NG tube in my near future, it's another obstruction :(. The doctors will decide tomorrow if I am going forward with surgery here instead of Oct/Nov. the surgeon who is supposed to do my surgery is away till the beginning of Oct, my GI too.:(
 
Sorry to hear that it is another obstruction, hopefully they will be able to get you paired up with another GI and they can move your surgery forward you poor thing. This is one horrible disease isn't it? You just never know where you stand with it. Anyway will keep fingers toes & everything crossed that they get moving quickly for you. Keep us posted. Theresa.
 

Jennifer

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Crohn's gal since 1989- Are you getting IV steroids to see if it helps reduce any inflammation that might be there (since symptoms seem to act up around your period)? I'm sorry you're going through this. If it is a full obstruction that wont clear up on its own then you likely wont be able to wait for your surgeon or GI to get back. Keep us posted. *HUGS*

@ Terry - Obstructions tend to cause upper GI issues like pain and an increase in gas along with nausea and vomiting. I was given Prilosec before they found out I was dealing with an obstruction because they just assumed it was simple reflux. If you haven't changed your diet to smaller portions and low residue, I highly recommend it to help reduce symptoms.
 

Artisan105

Yondaime
I will be praying for you... Gosh I totally understand what you are going through. The pain with an obstruction is terrible. I am glad you made the smart decision to go to the ER to get help. What did the doctors day? Surgery date? Or will they wait to see to try other alternatives to see if they can avoid surgery? Anyways, I am sorry you are back to square one- in the hospital. But the faster you fix this problem the faster you can get back to your life. :] Have a wonderful day! Hang in there! Many people in this group care :] Ciao~

Steven
 
I will be praying for you... Gosh I totally understand what you are going through. The pain with an obstruction is terrible. I am glad you made the smart decision to go to the ER to get help. What did the doctors day? Surgery date? Or will they wait to see to try other alternatives to see if they can avoid surgery? Anyways, I am sorry you are back to square one- in the hospital. But the faster you fix this problem the faster you can get back to your life. :] Have a wonderful day! Hang in there! Many people in this group care :] Ciao~

Steven
Thanks Steven! I have the NG tube in now they will reevaluate my condition in the morning. Still in the ER waiting to be admitted to a real room.:ybatty:
 
Crohn's gal since 1989- Are you getting IV steroids to see if it helps reduce any inflammation that might be there (since symptoms seem to act up around your period)? I'm sorry you're going through this. If it is a full obstruction that wont clear up on its own then you likely wont be able to wait for your surgeon or GI to get back.
They have not moved toward IV steroids just yet as I finished my prednisone taper last Saturday. CT scan showed my lovely strictured small intestine was blocked.:eek2:

My doctor told me to come here if I experienced obstruction like symptoms because Toronto General and Mount Sinai in Toronto are two of the best IBD facilities. My surgery was supposed to be at Mount Sinai.:(
 
Do you think they may move you to the other hospital if you need surgery?
They've placed me on the general surgery floor. I don't think I'll be moved if surgery becomes my only option. Previously my GI had told me the names of the surgeons he trusts here in the eventI came here with an obstruction requiring surgery.
 

Jennifer

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Any improvement or any news? I imagine they may have done a regular x-ray today to see if the mass is still there?
 
Crohn's Gal, I hope that if you need surgery you have the best surgeon possible. I pray that he/she is skillful and precise and is one of those special people with an anointing for healing. Stay strong, we're with you. Hugs.
 

DJW

Forum Monitor
I hope all goes well crohns gal. Sending you my best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery.
 
Hi Crohns gal, how are you doing? You are a few days down the track now have they decided when they are going to do your surgery? I hope all goes well for you. You are in my thoughts. Love and hugs. Theresa.
 
Hi Crohns gal, how are you doing? You are a few days down the track now have they decided when they are going to do your surgery? I hope all goes well for you. You are in my thoughts. Love and hugs. Theresa.
Hi Terry,
We're going forward with the surgery here. My GI came to see me yesterday and told me repeatedly that he was glad that I came directly to his hospital. The surgery will be tomorrow, they will be removing a distal illiul stricture. I'm comfortable right now as my obstruction cleared itself and they removed the NG tube this morning. I was planning on having this surgery anyway, so now I'm just looking forward to getting even better :)

How are you doing?
 
That's fantastic news for you, I bet you certainly feel better without that NG tube in. It sounds like you are in very good hands and i'm glad they are working so swiftly for. I wish all the best, and when you are on the mend keep us posted as to how you are doing. Lots of Hugs. Theresa.
 

Jennifer

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Glad it cleared up so you aren't in danger of a perforation. :) Keep us posted on how the surgery goes. Hope it goes smoothly and that you have a speedy recovery. *HUGS*
 
Well I'm still waiting for my surgery. I am considered a "group 'C'" surgical candidate meaning they do all of the 'A' and 'B' surgeries 1st. So I got bumped today. Hopefully they do it sometime tomorrow cause this waiting around sucks!
 

Jennifer

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Location
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I'm sorry you got bumped. D: Although I'm kind of glad you aren't considered Group A. Keep us posted. If you get bored or anything feel free to come into the live chat. :)
 
If you're flipping around YouTube on your phone, waiting for your totally successful surgery, you may look up Celtic Women's version of 'You Lift Me Up'. That song was my friend in the hospital- really beautiful. Sending prayers and positive vibes for awesome surgery tomorrow. Yes, glad your not an A-lister, in this case. :)
 
I too am sorry that you got bumped, tell me that you didn't have to do a bowel prep for the surgery, you certainly don't want to keep doing that. We all have our fingers toes and everything crossed for it to be done tomorrow. Best wishes. Theresa. xoxo.
 
I too am sorry that you got bumped, tell me that you didn't have to do a bowel prep for the surgery, you certainly don't want to keep doing that. We all have our fingers toes and everything crossed for it to be done tomorrow. Best wishes. Theresa. xoxo.
Nope, between the NG tube and the clear fluid diet I'm retry much cleaned out already. :)
 
Well I'm still waiting for my surgery. I am considered a "group 'C'" surgical candidate meaning they do all of the 'A' and 'B' surgeries 1st. So I got bumped today. Hopefully they do it sometime tomorrow cause this waiting around sucks!
I finally had my surgery Saturday afternoon. It's now Monday and I've been on morphine pump to control my pain. Originally I was gold 10-15 cm
Would be ressected. Upon opening me up they discovered a second area if Crohn's resulting in 45 cm ressection.
 
I've been thinking about you, Crohn's gal. I'm glad they were able to do what they had to do. Hopefully that extra bit will safe you from problems later. Sending prayers for healing. Let us know, is the morphine pump something you control or is it delivering a steady dose?
 

DJW

Forum Monitor
Hey crohn's gal. I hope it's a very long time before you see the inside of a hospital. Get well.
 
I've been thinking about you, Crohn's gal. I'm glad they were able to do what they had to do. Hopefully that extra bit will safe you from problems later. Sending prayers for healing. Let us know, is the morphine pump something you control or is it delivering a steady dose?
The morphine pump delivers a pre measured dose of morphine to your IV line every time you press a button. I can get a dose every 5 minutes.
.
 
Hi Crohns gal, glad to hear that you finally had your surgery, and very glad for you that they found that 2nd area, I would hate to see you going through this again any time in the near future. Hope all goes well with your recovery, and that you are home soon. Keep us posted. Theresa.XoXo
 
I am now six days post op and I had my first BM tonight! I've had to take stool softeners and resorted to a gentle laxative today to finally get things moving. I was beginning to get a little concerned about the lack of BMs since my surgery. I am still quite sore and am having a little bit of an allergic reaction to my staples. So I am home and having visiting nurse check my incision everyday. In total I has 50 cm f sall intestine resected.:mario2::yoshijumpjoy::luigi:
 

Jennifer

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Thanks for keeping us posted. :) Sorry I missed your last update. Glad that surgery went well and that things are moving. That's just over 19.6 inches. I hope that the surgery will kick start remission for you and that you'll be feeling better for a long time (preferably forever). Sorry to hear about the staples. :( Keep us posted on how you're feeling and healing. *HUGS*
 
Yes, thank you for posting CrohnsGal. Sending healing to you and a more neutral response to those staples. May the bms continue daily, formed and as normal as possible. Im sure your water intake is high. Visiting nurse happy with incision so far? I always think of healing skin nutrients like vit A and vit C and vit D (carrots, squashes, oranges, lemons, sunlight). Hang in there, you're almost one week out!
 
Hi Crohns gal, glad to hear that you are home, and doing relatively well after the surgery. Gee that 10-15cms sure grew didn't it? The resection was all done in the small bowel wasn't it? How long do you have to have the staples in? That is great that you have a nurse come to home to check on your wound isn't it. I have been quite unwell since the last 2 weeks of tapering off the Prednisone, I have had temps going up to 38.7 each day for over 10 days now, still trying to get some answers on what is causing them, I had a blood test yesterday which was marked urgent but typically the Dr didn't ring me back with the results so I will have to wait until Monday now. I would like to put some of these Drs in our shoes and let them deal with what we do sometimes. I reckon they might sharpen their footwork a bit. Anyway take care. Theresa.XoXo
 
Hi Crohns gal, glad to hear that you are home, and doing relatively well after the surgery. Gee that 10-15cms sure grew didn't it? The resection was all done in the small bowel wasn't it? How long do you have to have the staples in? That is great that you have a nurse come to home to check on your wound isn't it. I have been quite unwell since the last 2 weeks of tapering off the Prednisone, I have had temps going up to 38.7 each day for over 10 days now, still trying to get some answers on what is causing them, I had a blood test yesterday which was marked urgent but typically the Dr didn't ring me back with the results so I will have to wait until Monday now. I would like to put some of these Drs in our shoes and let them deal with what we do sometimes. I reckon they might sharpen their footwork a bit. Anyway take care. Theresa.XoXo
I know "doctor's urgent" and everybody else's "urgent" have 2 very different meanings. I wasn't surprised that the length of small intestine grew as that #was based on what could be seen via ultra sound and it was extremely uncomfortable for the tech to even get the pictures as my other organs were in the way. I had assumed that when I met the surgeon next month I would be doing additional tests to give him more info. And probably based on those tests would have probably determined the same # :)
 
Last night the dog tried to get close to me by jumping up on my bed. Unfortunately she misjudged her her distance and landed on my incision!:eek:
I had went to bed feeling pretty decent thinking I was going to get my first good night's sleep.

Thank goodness the dog is only 8 lbs.:)
 
Well tomorrow marks 2 weeks post op! I'm getting my staples out Friday. Although while I was in hospital still the Drs took two staples out because they thought I had developed a wound infection. Because of this a nurse visits me to pack my wound and clean and bandage it.

All was going fine until, the wound knitted itself up too fast. On Sunday it measured 2.3cm deep, then yesterday it was .5cm deep. The nurse is concerned that a layer of skin has grown over the top of my wound leaving an open pocket which could form into an abscess.😵

So now I'm worried again. Does this roller coaster ever end?
 
Hi, sorry to hear that you are having problems again. Hopefully when you get your staples out they will be able to get a better look at the wound and it won't be as bad as the nurse thinks, keeping my fingers crossed for you. And hopefully once you have recovered from this that Bloody roller coaster will break down for good! Theresa.
 

Jennifer

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I'm sorry Crohn's gal since 1989. :( Same thing happened to me after my surgery, the skin healed up but not the flesh underneath. They cut the skin back open and continued to pack it from the inside out. My mom was shown how to pack my wound. It was also cleaned and packed twice a day. It healed slowly but did heal well without having issues with the skin closing together again (it couldn't because the skin didn't touch at all, the packing prevents that). Hope you start healing up right soon. *HUGS*
 
Well good news for now,after speaking to the wound specialist, they fell that this is not the case and perhaps I am just a fast healer. I get the staples out tomorrow and today I have made it through the whole day taking just Tylenol! :)
 
That's fantastic news for you, really glad to hear it after all you have been through the last couple of weeks you deserve a break. best wishes to you. Theresa.
 
Hey Crohns gal, just wondering how you are getting on now? I hope all your wounds have healed up nicely for you, and that you never ended up with any real complications, and I hope you are starting to feel back to your normal self. Best wishes. Theresa.xoxo
 
Well the staples came out and the next day my incision opened up so nurses are back to everyday. Turns out under my staples had not healed enough and it forced the skin back open. The nurses say that this is quite common with this type of surgery and that everything looks good! From my layman's opinion it looks GROSS!:eek:

I'm mostly using just Tylenol for pain and I'm hopeful that by next week they scale back the nursing visits so that I can go to my cottage once more before winter!:)
 
Sorry to hear about your wound giving you grief, so much for them thinking that you had healed to quickly! I have all this to look forward to don't I? I have not been at all well since about last 2 weeks of tapering down on the steroids, I have had constant fevers and a cough which I swear is coming from my boots, but it comes and goes. the dr put me on a course of antibiotics to no avail. Drs are useless so i'm just treating myself. Anyway I hope you manage to get away, you would be looking forward to a nice break, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Love Theresa.
 
Well after 6 weeks of virtually symptom free Crohn's, I had to go off the birth control patch for my period and I end up in the ER! So far I've spoken to the doctor, had an X-ray and am now Hooked up to IV and morphine. Thank heavens the pain is finally subsiding. I had to leave work at 10:15 this morning because the pain was making me ill.:stinks:
I use Diluadid for intense pain and librax as a muscle relaxer
 
Sending healing to both Crohn's gal and Terry. Terry, I just googled it- boots is a cough decongestant liquid? You are taking or otherwise eating probiotics and vitamin D? After steroids, I'm sure you know, the immune system needs a little help getting back on track. Wish I could host a SCD big buffet for all of us. Thank God I've been feeling better so I have the energy to cook more. It was a double whammy being in hospital and eating hospital food. Sending you both inner strength and full recovery.
 
Terry, fingers crossed that you start feeling better soon! One of the positives of this surgery is that I lost the 17lbs I gained from taking the prednisone!:dance:

The fast healing had to do with the staples the doctors removed in the hospital. That is still healed up, this opening is the rest of the incision. :)
 
First somewhat solid BM today and the nursing wound specialist visited me yesterday and it was good news! She's bumped me to "every 2 days" visits from every day, so if the timing works out I'm going to make it to the cottage!:dance:
I was at my cottage almost every weekend this summer and now it has been over a month since I've been there and I miss it!:)
 

Jennifer

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Glad things are healing well now even though you had a bit of a set back. Keep us posted. :)
 
Good to hear that you are doing so well. Where abouts is your cottage? I hope you manage to at least get a few days up there. Best wishes. Theresa.
 
As I said to you before you live in a very beautiful part of the world, I really envy you. My husband and I would love to come back one day to explore a bit more.
 
Hi Crohns gal, Just wondering how you are doing? I hope everything is healing well, and you are starting to get back to your normal self. Did you manage to get away to your cottage for a break? I hope so! All is improving with me, I'm not on any meds at the moment, just using Imodium when I need them which can be daily but I can deal with that. Anyway as I said I hope all is well with you, keep us posted when you have time. Theresa XO
 
Hi Threresa!
I'm slowly returning back to normal. We made it to the cottage but ended up coming homea day early because the drainage from my incision was having a strng door and had increased considerably. The nurses figure it was a reaction to the new packing they were using on my incision. I've been back to the surgeon for my follow up, my incision is healing slowly(most likely because of the Imuran) so they have extended my sick leave. Instead of a return date of Nov 2nd, it has been bumped to Dec 2nd. I only take Tylenol occasionally now, but my bowels haven't sorted themselves out yet. The diarrhea has slowed down, no solid stools yet, but I am having a horrible time with gas. Overall positive, but I am looking forward to my follow up with the GI, because I don't think this surgery has solved all my issues like he initially thought it would. I have a feeling Remicade is on the horizon for me.

I'm glad to hear you are feeling better! We are heading up to the cottage for one last weekend to close it up for winter :( the summer went by far too fast this year. Hopefully next summer I am fully functional again and can really enjoy it with the family! :)
 
Hi glad to hear that you are on the mend, even if it is slowly you are heading in the right direction. I know what you mean about the Imuran possibly being the culprit for the slow healing, that stuff absolutely knocks out your immune system, some of these drugs are worse than the disease to deal with. I bet you were glad to get away to your cottage, just a shame that you had to leave early. Did the nurses manage get the odour problem from the incision under control for you? I'm sorry to hear that the surgery hasn't resolved all your issues hopefully with a bit more time things will get better. What sort of work do you do? Nothing to strenuous I hope! That's good that the Dr has extended your sick leave, as it's not the type of surgery that you get over in a hurry. Anyway take care. Theresa. XoXo PS Is Bonnie your real name?
 
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