Red Sox 2012 Edition…(4/15)

So here we are 1 week+ into the 2012 campaign and the Red Sox are 4-5. (Better than last year when they were 2-7 at this point.) Of the first three series (against the Tigers, Blue Jays and Rays), they are 1-2-0. (The series against the Rays isn’t technically over with a game to be played tomorrow on Patriot’s Day, but they have won the 1st 3 games, so they have won the series, even if they lose the game tomorrow.) And the last three games have been impressive in their offensive outpouring. I still think they won’t make the playoffs but they will do better than last year’s 90 wins.

In other news, my Crohn’s still sucks and hurts, but my pain from the surgery is getting less and less every day, but it is still there and does hurt very much on occasion. My GE wants to get me off Prednisone, but my body is addicted to it and it is really hard to go below 20mg daily.

CT Scan today (9/30)…

Got to swallow that lovely Barium Sulphate solution today. My gastro. has no clue what is going on inside my insides so he got a CT scan done to try and figure it out. Fun. Maybe we can get some closure on my condition.

Off to UCSF for testing (9/18)…

So, my gastro. has decided to send me off to a specialist (isn’t a gastroenterologist as specialist to begin with?) to find out what is going on with me. He has taken me off the Humira and just has me on the prednisone and 6-MP. The specialist is an IBD expert and she will let me know (?) if I should use another biological or just stick with the prednisone. fun!

I Hate Pain (8/2)….

Well, my doctor tried to take me off Prednisone and it didn’t work out so well. I am in horrible pain and he says it is because my intestines have inflamed because the Prednisone isn’t there to keep them in check. Thankfully, he put me back on the Pred. 20mg dose. Hopefully, the pain will go away soon. I am having to do 2 Vicodin pills a day to be able to make it through the day.

Colonoscopy (5/24)…

So, i had my first colonoscopy last Friday (5/20). wow. only thing i remember is them putting in the Demerol and then waking up and having the nurse and my wife dressing me to go home. the doctor found a polyp and said i had an edema and a mildly inflamed junction at the small and large intestine. and four days later my stomach/insides are killing me. i asked the doctor about it and he said it is a reaction to have a tube in my insides. no shit sherlock.

“Unremarkable results…(4/16)”

So the results are back from the upper GI tests and according to the radiologist, they are “unremarkable”. Then why am i still in pain? I think the Humira is working overall, but there is still some pain left behind when i eat foods. but with the test being what it is, i know that i don’t have to have surgery and mess up my master’s class schedule. i am supposed to graduate this summer from the program and do an 8-day field course through Yosemite to cap off the program. so the mystery continues about my insides but i am meeting with my gastro. the 25th and maybe he can tell me something then.

Getting an Upper GI Test Monday (4/9)…

Well, so much for the Humira working its magic. It seems to have had the opposite effect, and made things worse. I had the injections on Monday (3/27) and by Saturday (4/2) I was in horrible pain. Rolling around on the floor, throwing up, just generally being on death’s doorstep. Well, this week the doctor informs me that 10% of patients do experience “gastric distress” with Humira. thanks for telling me now. So i am now scheduled for a gi test monday. hopefully we can see if there is any damage inside that we can get rid of. And i have had to miss work to top it all off, and my Master’s class is all messed up because of this.

4 Doses of Humira today (3/28)…

So i go in to be trained how to use the med. and they up and tell me I am going to be injected with the shiznit! Not as much pain as i thought there would be. Glad i had stephanie with me. she actually injected me after the training nurse showed us how. 4 doses today and then 2 more in 2 weeks and then 1 every two weeks after that for the rest of my life. nice. met my new gi doc today. dr. jha. ok dude, but definitely not dr. fisher. i liked dr. fisher. too bad he had to retire.

Going in to learn how to use Humira tomorrow (3/27)…

So…I finally received the Humira this past week and made an appointment to learn how to use it. I am scared as hell about using this stuff. But the time has come to use it. I am in pain (real-honest-to-God pain) tonight and I am hoping that this stuff really works and takes away the pain and inflammation and delays the inevitable surgery. Stephanie is going to come with me to the training so she can help if need be and hold my hand because i am a big pussy about pain and will probably blank out as the nurse is training me.

Well, we may have closure with Crohn’s (1/6)….

So i saw my gastroenterologist yesterday (who is retiring by the way; so i have to get used to a new gastro. this year), and he/we decided that i need to start Humira. The drugs have run their course and are no longer helping the pain or preventing the recurrence of blockage. and with the new blockage in the upper gi tract, and taking 40mg of prednisone, it is best to get on the Humira and off the steroids.

i was really scared two years ago when he said that i would need to start Humira and i blocked it from my mind and didn’t want to go there, but now that i have had this long to think about it and research it, I am ready for Humira and want to get it started so i can be free of this damn pain. as much as i like the Vicodin (and i really like the Vicodin), i am sick of the pain.

no matter what i eat, i have pain in my intestine and rumbling after eating. it is quite annoying.