Community Forum

Hi,

I have been a Crohn's patient for over 15 years maybe even as long as 23 years.   I believe the ulcer I had when I was 18 was misdiagnosed and it was actually my first bout with the disease.

Recently I had a flare up that landed me in the hospital with a blockage.

The docs were able to get it under control.  They are treating it with prednisone, lialda and nexium.  And my gastro wants to introduce Humira.

The surgical doc still want to operate.  Apparently my Chron's is only in one small portion of colon and not in any other area. He feels that since it is only in one portion of my colon in my case it could radically improve the quality of life.  Has anyone had similar experience?

Also for laparoscopic surgery what is the recovery time?  How long should I expect to stay out of the office?  There is a lot going on right now.  Also I will need to travel a lot for business during the summer, how long before I can resume travel?

Much thanks for all your input.

 Reply posted for jay2cee.

Jay2cee, I have a similar story.  I had ulcerations in college that were not immediately linked to Crohn's, which was not diagnosed until a hospitalization from a blockage a year later.  During my third hospitalization, the surgeons wanted to operate, but I willed myself to better health and avoided it.

I have stuck to a mildly-restricted diet and dealt with any minor cramps as they appeared through liquid diets.  That was in 1999 and  I have been relatively healthy from that point until this past winter, when I started getting cramps more regularly.  When it got to be every day and I saw what the scar looked like in a contrast x-ray I had this year, I knew it was time to give in and have the surgery done (tomorrow, actually).  Mine is supposed to be a removal of a 3-cm section of the terminal illeum, and because the scar is located at the terminus, the secum as well.  Reading stamperzann and kellyk's responses, I am encouraged it is the right decision for me.    I certainly went through the doubts of is it Celiac disease?  Do I just have lactose intolerance?  But when you see the x-ray, the diagnosis is pretty clear.

Good luck.

 Reply posted for jay2cee.

I just had my fourth surgery in April, first time in the colon.  I can't say whether you should have this done or not.  I have always viewed surgery as the last resort, but they have all been worth it.  If you do decide to go through with it, this has been my experience.

Because of the location they were able to use the scope instead of an open procedure this time.  I was a happy camper because the 8' incision is not a fun recovery.  However, my surgeon told me to expect the same recovery time (about 8 weeks) for this one as the open procedure and he was right.  Overall, the pain was much easier to manage and I was able to get back to some things pretty quickly, but I still wasn't able to lift more than 10 lbs for six weeks due to risk of a hernia.  Three months later, my larger incision (about 3") still lets me know it's there on occasion.

If you need to do a lot of travel this summer, wait to have surgery until you have a slower time (or just make a slower time) so you have ample time to recover if there are any complications.  There is no point in pushing yourself to recover just so you can travel, it's not worth it, trust me, I've done it.  But, I was able to go back to my office job within a few weeks.   Make sure your boss knows your situation and see  if they can work around it. 

Best of luck!

 Reply posted for jay2cee.

i had severe chron's in my ileum with a blockage, 2 fistulas, ulsers and polyups and it was sitting on my ovary infecting that too. i was a useless human being for close to a year until i found awesome doctors in nyc that steered me in the right direction. like you i had a localized case and i had surgery on april 14, 2008 to remove it. i wanted it outta there. i had surgery on monday and was out of the hospital on thursday and back to work in 2 weeks. i'm training for a 210 mile bike ride and a century ride and hiking all the 46 peaks in the adirondack state park. so was it worth it...yup...do i regret the 2 weeks i had to take off of work..no....do i recomend it...totally!!! it has changed my life.... *** work and take care of yourself. jobs will always be there and your employer will understand. it will be the best decision you ever make for yourself....life with out a stomach ache is glorious! i take 1 pill a day now, 6mp, and i feel like a million bucks! good luck

 Reply posted for jay2cee.

when I was 13 years I had complete blockage and they found that my crohn's was just in my colin. I had the operation where they removed a large section of my large intestines and 1/2 my colin and some of my small intestines. I'm 55 year old now and have lived a pretty normal life. Couple of time wound up in the hospital while traveling when I was a teen but never let anyone operate on me again. I own a large company and still play sports and eat anything. I was one of those that it only took one operation. You must get a secound doctor to look at you. When I was 13 they didn't have alot of option except surgery and back than it was major surgery.