Danger of Steriods and Surgery
Mon, January 05, 2009 1:00 AM
I wanted to tell my husband's story. On 12/22, he went to the ER with horrific pains and knew he had a blockage. He started a flare up at the end of Nov and saw his GI on 12/10. He was started on 30mg Prednisone and was to taper down. He never improved however he kept hanging on. Once in the hospital, he was given IV steriods and would taper down rapidly. On 12/26 he went into surgery for a bowel resection, still receiving steriods. Surgeon said it would be a laproscopic procedure and no ng tube. Instead, he was cut wide open, ng tube in place but no bag at least. Mike moved on and was doing everything the nurses asked him to do. When he felt ready for a bm, his numbers dropped dramatically and passed out in the bathroom. They rushed him to ICU and found him malnurished and dehydrated. They over-hydrated him and pneumonia set in. He was too weak to cough and began nutrition therapy and breathing treatments. He was taken back to the step down unit for 8 hours when he became confused and his vitals dropped again. He was oozing from his incision and from his bottom. Rushing back to ICU, he was septic. 2nd surgery on 1/2 to clean and repair again. This time, he was abruptly taken off the steriods, not yet completed in tapering down. He was placed on a vent and was in respiratory failure. Numbers were still crashing and we were told to prepare for the worst. They finally decided to restart steriods again, 3mg. Surgeons were upset because it inhibits his GI healing but without heart and lungs, there's no gut. He is currently on a full ventilator, in a drug-induced coma and fighting for his life. This morning, he made a good turn and is coming out of the dark. The problem? Steriod induced adrenal failure brought on by the sudden stoppage of steriods. He's being weaned from the ventilator and is in a special pulmonary bed. No time frame for recovery as of yet.
shansa3fanJoined Jan 5, 2009
Mon, March 30, 2009 9:11 PM
Reply posted for shansa3fan.
I am writing in hopes your husband is doing much better by now. I have been through some of the same things he has gone through so I can relate very well to what you, and especially him, are going through. I have spent 8 weeks at a time in the hospital trying to stablize my condition. I have had Crohn's for 22 years and have had two sections of my colon removed, one in 1992 and one in 2008. I still can't eat and if I do most of the time I don't make it to the bathroom in time. The pain is the worse, though. But, I have you, your husband and family in my prayers and sure hope everything is going better now for him. Thanks for sharing your story, it helps the rest of us to know we aren't alone.
Brenda
brenny1953Joined Mar 29, 2009
Mon, January 12, 2009 1:00 AM
Reply posted for kimhg.
Thank you for your reply and your prayers. I think it's our only hope now. Please pray that our God is a merciful One and not for my sake but for our children, keep their father on earth with them. I don't even care about myself anymore, just their well-being.
shansa3fanJoined Jan 5, 2009
Mon, January 12, 2009 1:00 AM
Reply posted for shansa3fan.
By now, Mike has had 3 surgeries and is still septic. His lungs are still not functioning when they lower the vent and they're talking about a trach by the end of this week. So for this 'simple' surgery, if he survives, he will have a colostomy bag, require at least 6 months of physical therapy, multiple scars and to ad insult to injury, a trach. This disease and the meds for it really suck. Our children are 15, 13, 12 and 5. What did they do to deserve this? The 15 and 12 year old are my step children and they're biological mother abandoned them at 1 and 4. And the 5 year old... Jesus, I pray that you remember the children. Please don't do this to them. Mike is running fevers and there's a chance that the bowels will still perforate at the stoma site causing irrepairable damage.
shansa3fanJoined Jan 5, 2009
Mon, January 12, 2009 12:24 AM
Reply posted for shansa3fan.
All I can say after reading that is God bless you and my prayers are with you.
Joined Mar 21, 2008
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