My young 25 yr old son's story

My son began having sever abdominal pain which sent us to the hospital on evening. After given IV fluids and a CT scan the doctor told us he expected Crohns. My son followed up with a gastro. physician who scheduled a colonoscopy and went forward. Twice they attempted the colon. with no look. My son Andrew followed all the prep to the letter. He was then sent for a barium scan, which showed blockage and a fistula. A hole in his small intestant. He was sent home only to end up in the ER a week later for 5 days. He was suffering from SEVERE pain and vomiting bile. They began pumping his stomash and suggesting a treatment called Remacaid, he has had 4 treatments as of today, but suffering from fatigue and abscess under his armpits. They become very enlarge and has to have antibiotics. Does this story sound familiar to anyone...............I'm very concerned about if this is the right direction we should go.


Concerned Mom

Does he still have stomach pain?
The fatigue feeling is crazy. I still have that problem but not as much. Make sure he gets plenty of water especially after waking up in the morning to help move his blood. I found out the importance of fluids the hard way.
If he mentally feels down make sure he reads up on this board so he knows and get a feel of what others are going through too because it helps.
And if he has IBD, he may have other issues too. Lots of people usually have more then one problem with IBD.

He does have side pain and fatigue is off the chain.He is going through remacaid IV treatments right now. He is starting to get these large boils under his armpits. Thanks to the Remacaid.
I hope he is taking part is this site. He's very quite and private. A Chemist graduate.Extremely smart, however doesn't ask much about all of this. He keep it all inside.

Hi Sandy and :welcome:

I'm so sorry to hear about your son...:hug:

My son has recently had surgery for a fistula in the small bowel. He also had an abscess associated with his so was unable to use Remicade or any of the biologics. I did ask them about them though and was told that they do not work with small bowel fistula's. If your son's symptoms persist much longer I would question as to how long they are going to persist with this treatment and what the alternatives are.

Where and what is the pain like in his side?

:hang: Mum!
Dusty. xxx

Welcome Sandy! I'm sorry to hear about your son. Perhaps you could post your question in the Remicade club here...http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=58

Someone in there may have experienced something similar. Good luck!

My son Andrew

He has pain in hislt lower side. The fatigue is horrible and the abcesses under his arms come every 6 weeks. He had another CT last week and they did report a small change, he just keeps going and trying to ignore the discomfort. However I pray he doesn't end up in the ER. They has to pump his stomach because he was vomiting bile, It was horrible. I just am so concerned with the Remecaide because of all it's possible side effects. SCARY. I wonder if surgery would be something he should request, or "Does surgery take the issue away?"

Go to sleep and worry to wake up and worry.

Concerned Mom

For many surgery has been the best option. It will not "cure" crohns but coupled with a long-term maintenance plan, surgery can offer many years of blissful remission. Like all IBD treatment options, there are risks and stories of failure. If it were my son, I wouldn't go looking for the failure stories. But that's just me, head in the sand!!