It was August 11, 2008. I was doubled over in pain which had been getting progressively worse for 3 days, and went to the doctor assuming a case of Appendicitis. Several hours later, here's what we knew:
"Transmural wall thickening and luminal narrowing involving the distal/terminal ileum, with associated mild surrounding stranding, ill-defined wispy fludi and regional pericecal adenopathy. The findings are most suggestive of an infectious or inflammatory ileitis, to be correlated clinically for IBD/Crohn's."WHAT?
The CT of my abdomen and pelvis with contrast was fairly traumatic. To start, when we went to the hospital registration desk to "schedule" the CT, they tried to schedule it for a week in the future, instead of right away (or STAT in doctor speak). After several minutes of calls to my doctor's office, I was scheduled for an appointment ASAP. I had to wait for about an hour in the waiting area, as there were some cases that came through the ER - a car accident, if I remember correctly. Finally it was my turn.
The technician administered the barium for the contrast via enema, something I would never wish on anyone, even my worst enemy. I won't go into the details, but it was unpleasant, and extremely painful due to the unknown swelling in my small intestine. After the imaging was complete, I ran to the closest toilet, about 100 yards down the hallway. Again, I would never wish this on my worst enemy. Luckily for me, I wasn't alone: both of my parents were at the hospital with me, and my friend Tina even stopped by while we waited for those CT results, since it was now approaching 6 pm.
The CT, along with blood work indicating extreme swelling/pain and possible internal bleeding, were strong indicators for inflammatory bowel disease, most likely Crohn's; all that needed to happen to finalize the diagnosis was a colonoscopy. The most shocking blood result was my C-reactive protein (CRP). A test result showing a CRP level greater than 10 mg/L is a sign of serious infection, trauma, or chronic disease; mine was 30.4!
Colonoscopy: Age 20
On August 21, I went in for my first (of 5 so far) colonoscopies. "There is evidence of superficial mucosal ulceration with inflamed granulation tissue." What it boiled down to is inflammation in the area of the small intestine commonly associated with Crohn's, and there was evidence of ulceration, also commonly associated with Crohn's. Voila. Less than 2 weeks after I started feeling terrible, I had a diagnosis: Crohn's Disease.
At the time, I didn't realize how lucky I was. I have since heard stories of it taking months or years before a final diagnosis of Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis. Granted, for years, I had been complaining about stomach pain, but it had never been severe enough to look into more than taking some antacids.
Knowing what I know now, I'm thankful that I had a Crohn's flare then. I was able to start medication right away that helps to keep the disease from deteriorating my digestive system even more than it would without meds - and it was good to have that diagnosis for my future hospitalizations...
Do you want to help those who are newly diagnosed, like I was 10 years ago?
This year, I am once again taking part in Team Challenge. I will be doing a Race in Orange cycling event on April 7 with Tina (the same Tina who was there for my diagnosis), then participating in the Lake Tahoe Triathlon at the end of August for my 10 year anniversary of being diagnosed. You can support my fundraising efforts for these two events here.
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Stay tuned for Part 2: Hospitalization 2013
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