Hi, all! I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 1990. First surgery was a resection of my colon a Few yrs after diagnosis. Then, in 1996, I had a subtotal colectomy with an ileostomy. Four yrs later, I was doing rather well so, my surgeon and GI agreed it would be ok to reverse the ileostomy. Well, 3 months later, I flared up like never before. That's when I was put on Remicade. I did rather well for 5 yrs. But, by 2006, I was very sick again. We tried other meds....nothing worked well enough to get me to remission. In 2008, another ileostomy was done. This left me with about 3 inches of colon....my "bridge to no where".
This past Oct, I went to Shands in Gainesville and the surgeon there thought reconnecting my ileostomy could possibly help reduce the diarrhea I've been having since the last ileostomy surgery. So, I had the surgery and was once again reconnected.
The surgeon went out to my family during the surgery saying she was "shocked" at the length of my small intestine-- just under 4.5 ft! Nowhere along the line have I been told of my small bowel being so short!! But, this explains the chronic diarrhea!!
So, now I'm reconnected and constantly in the bathroom. 15-20 per day. I'm on Humira-- one injection per week.
I take in psyllium husk and it does help to bulk things up a bit.
I've lost 25 pounds on an already skinny frame. (I'm about 108 and 5'6")
I haven't been able to work since October.
I'm sad. But, I try to remain optimistic. I'm known by my friends as an "inspiration" and "strong".
I'm fortunate to have a wonderful husband and family.
Well, that's my story in a nut shell. I hope to be able to contribute to this forum with my experiences and maybe get some knowledge from the members here.
((Gentle hugs)) and lots of light to you all!
This past Oct, I went to Shands in Gainesville and the surgeon there thought reconnecting my ileostomy could possibly help reduce the diarrhea I've been having since the last ileostomy surgery. So, I had the surgery and was once again reconnected.
The surgeon went out to my family during the surgery saying she was "shocked" at the length of my small intestine-- just under 4.5 ft! Nowhere along the line have I been told of my small bowel being so short!! But, this explains the chronic diarrhea!!
So, now I'm reconnected and constantly in the bathroom. 15-20 per day. I'm on Humira-- one injection per week.
I take in psyllium husk and it does help to bulk things up a bit.
I've lost 25 pounds on an already skinny frame. (I'm about 108 and 5'6")
I haven't been able to work since October.
I'm sad. But, I try to remain optimistic. I'm known by my friends as an "inspiration" and "strong".
I'm fortunate to have a wonderful husband and family.
Well, that's my story in a nut shell. I hope to be able to contribute to this forum with my experiences and maybe get some knowledge from the members here.
((Gentle hugs)) and lots of light to you all!