Son diagnosed 2 weeks ago. When will he get his strength back?
Fri, May 11, 2012 2:43 PM
After being sick for 2 months, and getting varying diagnoses and meds which did not help, I finally took my 15 yr old son to the childrens hospital where he was diagnosed with severe UC. He was given IV steroids in the hospital and sent home with Prednisone pills.
SO it has been almost 2 weeks now and it looks like his GI symptoms are getting better, and he may have gained back 1 or 2 lbs of the 20 lost, but he is very weak and fatigued.
He is a star athlete and has been unable to return to athletics so far. I am afraid he will get depressed about it. Are any other boys out there involved in athletics with this disease? If so, how long did it take after the initial illness to get strong enough to get back?
He is also a star student academically, but sports is a huge part of his identity and has played a crucial role in his growth and development.
Thanks in advance for your replies,
Cheri
mom4tdJoined May 11, 2012
Tue, May 15, 2012 8:14 AM
Reply posted for Lizzies Mom.
Thank you both for your replies. He actually started feeling a lot better a couple of days ago and is gaining weight back fast. His stamina is improving as well. he has been doing lighter workouts in athletics where his coaches have been extremely understanding and patient.
He had some achiness before he was diagnosed but has not complained since starting the prednisone (which he just cut back on dosage this week) and has not complained of joint pain. Although he has some dizziness and sleeplessness with the prednisone.
Hoping that as we reduce the steroids he does not relapse....keeping our fingers crossed.
His iron levels were only a little low and the GI said that his multivitamin was good enough. No more labs have been done since diagnosis in hospital. We see the GI again on th 25th so I guess we will know more then.
Thanks again...this forum is a wonderful resource!
Cheri
mom4tdJoined May 11, 2012
Mon, May 14, 2012 4:54 PM
I don't really remember how long it took my son to get his strength back. It came back gradually as his body began healing and absorbing nutrients again. While my son was on prednisone, he often had joint pain. At first we couldn't figure it out. He kept hurting his back and knees whenever he did any kind of activity. The GI doctor gave us no explanation. It wasn't until he went off the prednisone that we made the connection of the prednisone causing the joint pain. He didn't have joint pain before or after taking prednisone. I dont' think that is a common occurance, but it would have been helpful to us to know that the prednisone was causing the problem....
bon22Joined Sep 28, 2011
Sat, May 12, 2012 11:06 AM
Reply posted for Mom4td.
I don't have a son, but a daughter who has CD and she too was / is a star athlete (gymnast) and honors student. I'm not sure if it matters boy or girl. I can only speak from our experience. Each child is different. Being he is so newly diagnosed, it will take him a bit longer (given his initial weight loss prior to dx) to regain both his weight and strength. You made no mention, but are his labs looking good or are they all over the place??? Say if his RBC, or iron counts are low, he may have more symptoms of fatigue. Or if his CRP is still fairly well elevated, he may have more gastric symptoms.
A lot of factors go into this and you will see over time how much you'll learn. What is his diet like these days, restricted?
As you know, we are limited with space, but I wanted to give you a glimmer of hope that things will settle down, and he can become the athlete / student he once was. You may want to do a google search of pro athletes that have IBD. I am very bad with names, but I do know there is a pro football player, hockey and race car driver that all have one form or another. It may be a good thing for him to see athletes playing at that level have a similar thread. Also Casey from last year's American Idol had UC.
Joined Sep 9, 2009
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