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When I was 11 or 12, things were going okay in my
life health-wise. Then I got a hemorrhoid, which signaled the start of problems, lots of pain, and my acquaintance with Crohn's
disease. I was down at Dad's, so it was fairly easy to get the hemorrhoid taken care of, what with him being a doctor and
all. The problems started when the lanced hemorrhoid refused to heal. I was also having nausea problems, cramping, and general
sickness. At home in Shelby, I went to a doctor, who decided to do some X-rays and run some tests to rule out Crohn's. Instead,
the tests confirmed it. I have Crohn's disease.
I began seeing a gastrointerologist in Charlotte to deal with the
disease. Steroids were tried to control it and the CIDP, which had flared up. They didn't work. I dealt with the Crohn's for
a few years using different medications, (Azulfidine® (Sulfasalazine) and the worst tasting drug EVER, Flagyl (Metronidazole)
- the stuff is so bitter and nasty it used to make me throw up all by itself).
Somewhere in this time period, my gastrointerologist's
office moved into a different building. It was the building my old neurologist had been in when I was 4. I walked in, and
pointed out to Mom where the children's waiting room had been. When we were called back, I pointed out the room in which I
had had the shock testing done. I told her all I remembered. She was impressed, to say the least.
The summer after
my sophomore year of high school, I was admitted to the hospital in charlotte with a fever and severe abdominal cramps. A
bowel obstruction is no fun. I have rarely been in as much pain as I was that week. I had been getting sick and feeling crappy
all semester. I was feeling rotten through most of the rehearsal and run of Brighton Beach Memoirs, and this just capped it
off. I ended up with a perforated bowel that required emergency surgery. 18 inches of small and large intestine were removed,
as was my appendix, since it was attached to the piece. That's one problem I don't have to worry about.
After recovering
from that and dealing with the inevitable CIDP flare-up, I was on a new medication, Asacol, and everything started more or
less behaving. I've had some flare-ups in the past year or two, but I was put on Purinethol (6MP) to deal with that. It keeps
me from drinking, which can be hard for someone who learned to drink at a British University, but I deal. Also, for my most
recent flare-up, I was put on Remicade, and all seems to be doing well. One can only hope the good trend continues.
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