Category: Health

Well, as I mentioned earlier my new gastroenterologist wanted to re-check to see if I really had Crohn’s.

 

 

Crohn’s is the disease which has in part defined who I am for the about 30 years now. I have mixed feelings about the possibility of no longer being considered a Crohn’s sufferer for several reasons. But, one of the biggest is simply because if it’s not Crohn’s then what the heck is wrong with me?

I have many questions, such as:

Q – Could it be something worse?
A – Not likely as it has not gotten worse over the past three decades.

Q – Can it be treated differently if it is Crohn’s?
A – Possibly.

Q – Is it possible that whatever the problem was years ago has gone away?
A – Maybe…but not completely based on how often I do get sick.

But these are not the point of this post. I’d like to talk a little about my first CT (CAT) Scan tonight at the University of Michigan Hospital.

First off, I’ve gotten to know this place better than I’d like to. This is where, despite excellent care, my father passed away much too soon and every time I walk in memories come flooding back.

Second, I do feel that I get great care through UofM and that’s why I’m still with their health system. I’ve never had a CT Scan before, though I had a MRI, and the prep wasn’t much different. No eating 4 hours before, no drinking 2 hours before, and don’t wear any metal.

I arrived an hour before the actual scan as requested and after making my way through the cavernous B1 level I checked in at Radiology Reception A (I think they go up to D). The clerk checking me verifies that I’m me and then says, “just a minute you need to drink something before your test.” Not unexpected, what was unexpected was that there were actually three drinks all together about 60 ounces…more on this later.

At 6:25 I went back to the men’s changing room to wait for the nurse. Since I arrived in sweat pants and my favorite “Summerfield Bulldog” t-shirt I had a chance to finish the third drink and look around. On the table was a journal where patients could write down their thoughts to leave for others. I looked through this journal and almost cried reading some of the comments left by cancer survivors, those waiting diagnosis, and one defiant entry from a Crohn’s sufferer who said that he was not going to let this disease get him down or rule his life. Regular people coping with unusual struggles…very cool. I, of course, wrote nothing.

The nurse came in to attach my IV and noticed my handsome shirt and said, “oh, you’re from Summerfield?” I said, “no Petersburg actually…” and prepared to explain why the school’s name was different than the city’s and she said “Sorry, that’s what I meant. I’m from Deerfield.” Which is the town across the river and 3 miles down the road. Small world!

Back to wait for the tech, a pleasant young man who escorted me into the scanner room. He explained that I would like the CT scan better than an MRI as the unit is much more open and the test wouldn’t take as long. He had me lay down and attached the IV to the “contrast” chemicals and said, “now you’ll feel warm in about 30 seconds.” I said, “that’s okay it’s a little chilly in here anyway.”

Well, within 20 seconds I started to feel flushed – interestingly in my nether regions first (I thought I was wetting and messing my pants) and then it felt like Satan had decided to give me a taste of Hellfire! Warm, indeed. But it was over in just a few minutes. A couple passes through the machine and I was on my way. However, just about the time I passed the first restroom those 60 ounces of liquid decided that they needed to get out. I’m not sure what the stuff was but I’ve had enemas which were less effective! But, about 15-20 minutes later I was able to leave the restroom and head home…

Not much of an adventure but possibly an important one. Now we play the waiting game for the results or “Hungry, Hungry, Hippos.” Your choice.

Onward!

 

 

Well, for those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook and longtime friends here you already know this but this is for anyone else who happens to stumble upon my infrequent blogs…

About 30 years ago I started to lose weight for now reason. This was accompanied by an intense pain in my gut that seemed nearly constant. Within a matter of 2 or 3 months I went from a relatively healthy 180 pounds (at 5’11”) to a clearly unhealthy 140. All the muscle mass I had worked a couple years to put on was gone almost overnight. Vomiting and diarrhea were the norm for me. Well after many medical tests – most of them uncomfortable at the very least – the diagnoses was in. I had Crohn’s.

Now this was much better than my worst fear which was that I had cancer. My family was worried, my co-workers were worried, my friends were worried, and so on. The good news is that I was given some pills (sulfasalazine and prednisone) reacted well to the medicine and within weeks started to put the weight back on – and then some. My doctor’s instructions at the time were to take one of the sulfasalazine pills each day and the prednisone only for my worst flare ups. This treatment seemed to work and unlike so many other Crohn’s sufferers – some who are friends here on Bodyspace – my life was pretty normal. I’ve actually gained too much fat (along with a fair amount of muscle by the way) and flare ups have been few and far aweigh.

My treatment was coming from my primary care doctor and I never saw a gastroenterologist in all those years until last week. And he pretty much rocked my world. After discussion he said, “I’m not sure you have Crohn’.” I said something along the lines of “Whaaaaaa?” and he went on to explain that though my symptoms are Crohn’s like that the dosage of the medicine I took at best had a placebo effect and that there are many other conditions which mimic Crohn’s and we know so much more today. My colonoscopy a few years ago was so good (yay) that there is no indication of anything odd in my gut.

We are starting from scratch. I have a CT Scan scheduled for next week. IF there’s evidence of Crohn’s I get to have a biopsy taken. If I don’t, well, we don’t know yet.

So this thing, as bad as it has been, has been part of my life for three decades. I didn’t like it but it had a name and in many ways has become part of my identity. I’m not really sure how I feel about possibly not having it any more, but if what I do have can be cured…well, I’m all for that.

Oh, and once again my job is in jeopardy. The College I work at is about to go under a “fiscal watch” by the state, we are all getting another pay cut and lay offs will be announced in January. So, I’ve got some interesting stress in my life right now.

How’s everything with everyone else?

Moving forward…

I had a flare up of my Crohn’s that’s lasted a couple days now and I’m not able to do much but sit and moan. Okay, maybe a little more (I still seem able to type after all).

Though I am clearly a person who’s Crohn’s is well under control – very few people with this condition are actually overweight – it still flares up from time to time. For those that don’t know, Crohn’s is a digestive disorder and similar to arthritis in many ways. Basically, the soft tissue of the digestive track can become inflammed at anytime without ryhme or reason and literally shut the intestines down so that no food can pass through. The swelling is painful, to say the least, and it’s no picnic when things open back up either. I won’t go into the details here…but you can imagine what might happen.

Anyway, there’s no cure (yet) and it’s controlled usually with sulfa drugs, prednisone (I may not have spelled that correctly), and in extreme cases surgery to remove the damaged section of intestine. Though surgery isn’t done as often anymore since they’ve found that it can flare up again in other areas.

I’m doing better today than yesterday and with proper rest and a couple more pills I hope to be back in action tomorrow.

Take care everyone.