Category: Crohn’s Disease

crohn’s disease

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Goodbye, Cimzia!

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The test results are in! Small Bowel X-Ray: NORMAL DEXA Bone Density Scan: NORMAL This means that I have no active disease in my small intestines. Likewise, there’s no visible damage from any previous Crohn’s flares. My small bowel is in good shape. Also, I have no permanent bone damage from any of the medications I’ve taken. Hooray! I also have the blessing of my new doctor to stop taking Cimzia, as long as I keep taking the other immunosuppressant, azathioprine. Which I’m totally cool with. It’s not going totally. . . Read More!

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Tonsils, X-Rays, Bone Scans!

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It’s been a very medical week here at the House of Meyer. Scott had his tonsils out last Friday. He was the oldest patient that day (although not their oldest overall — apparently they once had a 62-year-old get his tonsils out). The doctor said it was quick and easy, with very little blood loss. He’s following what appears to be a standard adult healing schedule. Days 1 and 2 were painful, but then day 3 was way worse. Days 4, 5, and 6, a lot of pain — especially. . . Read More!

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Gut Doctor, Car Doctor, Throat Doctor

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Gut Doctor I visisted my brand-new gastroenterologist yesterday. A recap: I was originally diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 1997, and had been in medication-free remission since 2003. I had a Crohn’s flare in 2009, and hadn’t found a new gastroenterologist in Floriday yet, so my HMO referred me to Doctor #1. Had a colonoscopy and started on the meds that I know put me in remission (immune-suppressors), although they started me at a lower level. After 3 months, Doc#1 opted to put me on a second medication, Cimzia (one of. . . Read More!

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Fortnightly Update & Photodump

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It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve posted. Ack! It’s been a hustle-bustle fortnight here at the House of Meyer. Workwise, I’ve just finished a week of training for my actual job. If you’ll recall, I’ve been doing some basic greeting and luggage-hefting until they had a classroom session available. I only had to wait a month and a half to start my actual training, which is apparently fairly fast. The five days of training consisted of one day of learning the two software programs, then four days of doing. . . Read More!

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Gluten-Free January

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I’m taking part in Gluten-Free January, a little grassroots project that is actually something I’d been thinking about trying to put together myself. I wanted to challenge friends to try just one month gluten-free to see how much better they could feel. This makes it easy, since someone else has already set up the framework. I eat mostly gluten-free already, because it turns out that gluten can be one of the main triggers for a Crohn’s disease flare. I do occasionally splurge, but when you’re not used to eating the. . . Read More!

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Colonoscopy 2010!

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So a part of having Crohn’s disease is getting looked at from the inside more often than the average bear. Most people are encouraged to have a colonoscopy every 5 years starting at age 50, or age 40 if there’s a history of colon cancer in your family. Me, I get to be scoped every two years. Although this time we did it a bit early; I’ve been on a new medication for a year, and we wanted to see what kind of healing it’s been doing. So it’s actually. . . Read More!

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A Multitude of Medications

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Well, my gastroenterologist’s office went to bat with the drug insurance company, and my Cimzia is now covered. I won’t have to pay $1500 per dose, huzzah! And I only ended up injecting 5 days late, so there shouldn’t be any issues. I’m also able to get the prescription filled at my local pharmacy, which is SO much more convenient than mail-order. You’d think it would be the other way around, but since this is a drug that needs to be refrigerated, they send it FedEx overnight. And since it. . . Read More!

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A Tale of Two Prescriptions

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At the pharmacy today: Me: Hi, I have two prescriptions ready, but I’m only picking one of them up. Pharmacy Lady: Sure, can I get your name and birthdate? Me: [name, birthdate] PL: (looking at computer) And now, which one … wha … wha … WHOA, WHAT! Me: Yeah, that’s why I’m not picking that one up yet. PL: WOW. So for my Crohn’s disease, I’m currently taking two medications. One (Azasan) is a daily tablet, the other (Cimzia) is a monthly injection. I’d been getting the monthly injections via. . . Read More!

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Long Time No Whine

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Yes, I’ve been a terrible slacker. It’s been over a month since I last posted. But I do come by and read everyone on my list every day. I’ve been posting a lot more things of the 140-character nature; I guess I’m hooked on Facebook and Twitter. Those handsome bastards. Medically, things are looking up. The dermatoligist looked at the rash and skin biopsies and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you.” The rheumatologist looked at the rash and joints and blood tests and mumbled, “I don’t know what’s. . . Read More!

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"40 Biopsies" will be my new band name

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I know, I know … I haven’t watched American Idol yet today. I’ll get to it this afternoon. I’ve had a busy couple of days. So last week, both the dermatologist and the rheumatologist were all, “We don’t know what’s wrong with you!” The best they could come up with was either a hypersensitivity to some medication I’m taking (which isn’t it, since I haven’t been on a single medication consistently throughout this rash) or a hypersensitivity to something else going on in my body. Today I went and had. . . Read More!