In 2012 several unusual symptoms were developing and getting worse. Horrible gas lead to diarrhea which eventually turned bloody. Frequency and urgency were increasing as the weeks went on. It was obvious something was very wrong with me.
My doctor had me undergo a barrage of tests. It could have been several types of infections, a parasite, or one of many diseases. After all the infection and parasite tests came back negative he sent me to a specialist called a Gastroenterologist (GI). We did more tests and eventually they told me I had some sort of Inflamed Bowel Disease (IBD) but wouldn't know for sure until a colonoscopy.
After the colonoscopy they confirmed it was Ulcerative Colitis (UC). They have an arsenal of pills for IBD and few of them are affordable. I guess affordable is relative but the 'good ones' were $500 to over $1,000 a month. We settled on sulfasalazine as it was just under $50 a month. After a while it worked, my symptoms cleared up, and I was back to normal for 2 years.
Then the winter of 2013, just before Christmas, I started getting symptoms again. Once again it started with horrible gas. Eventually I was very sick; loosing 10 pounds a month, anemic from blood loss, and still on the decline. In retrospect I should have seen my GI sooner but some weeks I would start to feel better and be like "I'll be ok ..." only to get more sick a week or two down the road.
My GI again ran me through the barrage of tests for all the infections, parasites, etc. Again they recommended expensive pills I can't afford. I did a 'flex sig' which is like a mini colonoscopy and again.. "Yep, UC..." This time they put me on prednisone pills and hydrocortisone suppositories. This helped a lot but I wasn't back into full remission after months of prednisone (hydrocortisone was only for 2 weeks).
So what now? My wife and I started doing research... lots of research... we've learned a lot from other people with UC. There's got to be a different way... a way that doesn't require me to take hardcore pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life that apparently may stop working at any time.
It's all so very unclear, contradictory, and unspecific. She's very supportive of our endeavor and we truly hope to find a way to get me into remission and stay there as long as possible.
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