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Registered User
Currently Offline
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Posts: 469
Join Date: Mar 2007
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On May 15th, 2008 I woke up around 3am in horrible pain. My abdominal area was killing me it quite literally felt like a volcano. Cramps, gas, burning and a severe soreness indescribable to anyone who hasn't felt it. About 3 hours later my parents found me out cold on the bathroom floor and rushed me to the hospital. They shot me up with morphine and transferred me to Children's Hospital (I'm still 4 months shy of being 18). A couple days later I was diagnosed with an IBD (Inflammatory Bowl Disease), more specifically; Crohn's Disease. For those of you who don't know what it is, I'll put it as simply as I can.
Quote: Crohn’s disease is an ongoing disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive tract, also referred to as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Crohn’s disease can affect any area of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine, called the ileum. The swelling extends deep into the lining of the affected organ. The swelling can cause pain and can make the intestines empty frequently, resulting in diarrhea.
Digestive Diseases
Crohn's is pretty complex in that it affects every person differently. For me, my colon or Large intestine is the one that’s inflamed. When I first arrived at the hospital my Colon and bowls were approx. 2-3 times the original size. As of now, they're around .5 times original size-a very good drop. I'm currently on a special medicine to reduce and keep down the inflammation. Periods that the symptoms become mild or disappear are called Remission and I sure hope to be in one of these for a long time. I was on a special diet: IV fluids the first week, clear liquids the second week and so forth working my way back up. The 3 weeks I was in the hospital I lost 15 lbs. and became incredibly weak from where I was originally in good shape. I could bench my weight (135 lbs) and could squat more (155 lbs). As of now, just walking around tires me out.
So just letting you all know this is a pretty big deal to me. To answer a few questions, there is no cure for Crohn's Disease, but the symptoms can be greatly reduced in frequency and severity by medication. No one knows where it comes from either; there are theories here and there but nothing definitive. The most widely accepted theory is that the immune system malfunctions and sees good bacteria and food as foreign invaders and attacks them in the gut causing inflammation and other pretty disgusting things.
The site I gave you above is the best I've seen for explanations. Also, if you have any questions-feel free to ask me. I'm glad to be back but I sure got a bit of catching up to do!
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