Stories

Feeling Better?

I thought I would start the section off with a personal story about myself.

I had recently been diagnosed with a rare ailment, called Crohn's Disease that that has affected me for 3 years now. Multiple surgeries, a lot of time from work lost, and the quality of life gone.

I had been trying to be positive since having to leave work on medical leave, not being able some days to walk, or even a choir to get out of bed.

I lost my job while on medical leave by my place of employment.  My manager said my position was not needed any longer.  No thank you for your hard work, are you feeling any better, are you going to be ok?  No good luck. My previous managers have had every possible interest in his health and well being, this last manager nothing.  I feel like had been raped.  He knows the business world and things of this nature happen, but are they handled this way? 

I almost lost the battle in June of 2002.  I found out that I had 3 6 1/2 inches of blockages in my intestine, causing severe pain, lack of eating, lack of water intake.  I lost 75 pounds.

I was given a colostomy in effort to ease my Crohns, which was the second time for this type of surgery.

A long battle finally won.  I have been feeling great since mid Sept, with a light at the end of my tunnel.  I am able to  eat, returning to a normal lifestyle.  I would personally like to send a thanks out to my Mom and Dad, if it wasn't’ for them, I would have easily given up, as in June I had enough.  I have a lot of close friends that have helped me through all of this, and you know who you are, I sincerely thank you for standing behind me through the thick and thin, giving me moral support to be able to fight this nasty disease. 

May 2007 I started having severe cramping pain as I am on a drug study for Humira.  The medication for the last 3 years was working great!  The cramping kept getting worse and worse. 

My doctor decided to have a colonoscopy to see if the disease was bothering me again.  From the colonoscopy everything looked great. 

He decided to to try a camera endoscopy, where I would swallow a small camera and it would take pictures as it followed my GI tract, and would come out with a bowl movement.  It never came out.  during an X-ray it was determined that the camera was still indeed in my intestine, in the area where blockages were fixed in the past.

Basically a surgery was scheduled to remove the camera.  They decided during the surgery that 40 CM of diseased intestine needed to be removed.  11 days in the hospital and I am now home recuperating from the surgery.  Not much cramping and I have been feeling pretty good.  My outlook is that I am pretty clean from the Crohn's disease and I have a great outlook for my future.

Again thanks to all the cards, phone calls, and visits from family and friends.  Without you I would not have had a great recovery.  I have to have a few more tests yet, and will post them as I have them.  Thanks again everyone!

Ever Been Really Sick?