I have questions. So. Many Questions. 1. How do you determine if surgery has succeeded? 2. How do you measure ‘remission’? 3. Can you actually achieve it? 4. Do I want to be medication free? I hope these all seem logical, or at least follow on from each other. Maybe the additional, and probably first question should be Why am I asking these types of questions? The period between…
Search results: MRI
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Forgetting about ‘The IBD’ and *all* that Anger
So it was Tuesday night and the boyfriend and I were discussing the previous day’s appointment with my surgeon. As much as I respect the logic and reasoning behind my surgeon’s need to keep me under his care and continue to test me – to make sure the Crohn’s is under control or if not, seeking the correct treatment option for me – but it has disappointed me. I honestly…
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Surgical Review – 12.12.16
This is my surgical review for both my surgeries I had done this year. I had my Right Hemicolectomy in May and my Subtotal Colectomy in August. The second surgery superseded the first by giving me my ileostomy. I was sort of expecting to be on the way to being discharged at this appointment but I knew deep down that this probably wasn’t possible. It’s only been three months post-op…
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Remaining Positive in the Face of [Chronic] Illness
Once the battle of being diagnosed with an illness, be it chronic or not, has passed – with elation, fear, and exhaustion – it is not long before the next battle comes. For me this was “finding my feet”. I spent six weeks or so in hospital over the space of four months, as we sorted out my medications and relieving my symptoms. Once I was on an upward path,…
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Going Medication free..? Is this *the* IBD dream?
I received correspondence from my GI yesterday, following my clinic appointment with him last Tuesday. It made for an interesting read: “I am sorry you came to separate surgeries, initially an extended right hemicolectomy and then a subtotal colectomy. We have still got you on Vedolizumab and I am not a hundred percent sure this is the right choice for you at present. In theory you have been completely down staged…
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GI Clinic – 15.11.16
I last saw my consultant the day I was admitted to hospital in mid August. I remember how disappointed he looked when he had to leave – he was going on annual leave for the rest of the month – and looked anxious. With good reason too, I would say goodbye to my bastard colon 11 days later. So today when we nodded to each other in acknowledgment before my…
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Nottingham GI Clinic – 14.09.16
It’s always abit weird to see how another hospital organise their clinics. This was our second visit to see Dr Moran – head of Digestive Disorders, specialising in clinical trials for IBD – to discuss my case. Since we last came in January, I’ve had two surgeries, three admissions, two MRI and a CT scan and a colonoscopy. Explaining the last six months was going to be fun. I took…
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In for the long haul
Thursday, August 11th “I feel absolutely awful. If I’m honest, I’ve felt awful for weeks and I’m at the end of my tether. Please help me.” I was on the phone to my IBD nurse, begging for help. I’ve never begging for an admission but that is what came out of my mouth next; “I’d really like to be admitted.” She wasn’t shocked, just said she’d need to speak to…
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A Spiral of Set Backs
I last wrote anything about my Crohn’s disease back at the end of June. That is almost six weeks ago but feels so much longer ago. And in retrospect, so much but so little has happened. It’s just been one thing after another; without the last problem really going away. So I was being discharged in my last post after my bowel infection from surgery. That problem resolved itself a…