Crohn’s disease journey update.
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Meeting my new gastroenterologist
A few weeks ago, I finally met with my new gastroenterologist in the VA community care network. In stark contrast to my October visit with the gastroenterologist who blew me off, this one actually took me seriously and listened to everything I had to say, even though I’m feeling well and doing good overall right now.
Since I was still somewhat reeling from being dismissed by the gastroenterologist in October at the VA hospital, I made sure to bring documentation/evidence with me this time! One result of me spending months scouring my medical records in order to write my book (coming soon), is that I created a short colonoscopy timeline that simply listed dates, pathology results, and when I started and stopped medications. It was a two-page, bulleted outline of my Crohn’s journey (from my first flare-up in 2006 to my most recent episode of intestinal bleeding this past summer) and I gave it to my new doctor right after he asked me to go ahead and start at the beginning! He loved the overview and scanned it into my new record at their clinic.
Since I didn’t have any current symptoms and because the only way to truly know how my intestines are doing is to examine the mucosal layers, he scheduled me for a colonoscopy. I’ll be undergoing colonoscopy number nine on June 5, the day after my birthday (guess I can cross off our usual celebration dinner of steak and wine for that day!).
Although I’m not excited about the colonoscopy (who is?!), I was expecting it. Colonoscopies are just a way of life when you have inflammatory bowel disease. Unfortunately, with a diagnosis of kidney disease (IgA nephropathy), I get the traditional prep — Golytely. I’m not sure how others would describe it, but to me it tastes like drinking a gallon of fishy, salty seawater. The real downside is that I don’t like to drink Crystal Light lemonade anymore, which used to be my favorite, since that’s what I’ve used for years to mix my prep with!
So with that, I’ll start the countdown to June 5, continue my search for optimal health, and remain grateful for every day.
Have you been diagnosed with either IgA nephropathy or Crohn’s disease?
Click here to read my post about PicnicHealth and learn how your anonymized medical data can help advance research. Already familiar with PicnicHealth and want to have your anonymized data shared to help advance medical research? Use the links below to get started:
- IgA nephropathy patients, visit: https://picnichealth.com/r/8adTfi
- IBD patients, visit: https://picnichealth.com/r/cQQ9Ly
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