Crohn's Advent Calendar - Day 6

Opening the ostomy bag this morning to find......

a large bottle of Oxy Clean spray!!
(an essential tool in the fight against laundry stains)

Crohn's Advent Calendar - Day 5

Opening the ostomy bag this morning to find..........

money to buy new clothes!!
(cuz of the weight loss, then gain, then loss, then gain......)

Crohn's Advent Calendar - Day 4

Opening the ostomy bag this morning to find.....

a huge friggin' B12 needle!!
(liquid sunshine)

Crohn's Advent Calendar - Day 3

Opening the ostomy bag this morning to find.....

a bag of supplies for my next hospital visit!!
(awesome...always need that)

Crohn's Advent Calendar - Day 2

Came downstairs this morning, grab a cup of coffee, had my meds and sat down with my calendar.

Opening the ostomy bag this morning to find......

a Costco sized bottle of Prednisone!!
(that'll last a week)  =)

Crohn's Advent Calendar - December 1st

YES, boys and girls!  It's December 1st...so, it's that time of year again when we pull out the ole' Crohn's advent calendar.
I love this time of year.  I couldn't sleep last night with the anticipation of what's behind those little doors.  This year, instead of toilet seats like last year, we have ostomy bags!!!  Yay!!!!!
I can't wait.........let's get the Christmas advent going shall we..

I'm soooo excited.....

opening the first ostomy bag this morning to find...............

a 50 pack of 2 ply double roll toilet paper!!!!!

woohoo!!!

don't forget to come back tomorrow, when I open up ostomy bag #2...

Cough and Cold Season

"Tis the season to be sniffly...tra la la la laaaa la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Every year, I'm the last in my family of 4 to get "sick".  And when I mean sick, I mean the dreaded cough and cold.  But for me, and maybe others with Crohn's, I always seem to get it 100 fold.
The runny nose, I can handle, that's nothing. 
The coughing, that's a little more than nothing.  It's not the coughing itself, it's what the coughing does to your insides.  You never realize just how much you tighten your abs when you cough until you've had Crohn's and the multiple surgeries, cutting open those abs.
But then there's the headache and exhaustion, this is something you really can't fix.  Is it because, generally, when you are sick, your body is already tired....maybe.  Is it because with Crohn's your body is so zapped of vitamins and minerals, it's already tired......probably.
But I HAVE discovered over the years (and several hospitalizations) the main obstacle with cough and colds, for me anyway, is..........dehydration.
I discovered that especially when I walked upstairs, I was so exhausted, I had to sit down and was out of breath.  Plus the dry mouth that came with it.  Turns out, I was dehydrated.  Problem is, how does a person with Crohn's keep hydrated?  No matter how much I drink, I can't keep it in.  Another "side effect" of the cough and cold.  I am continuously going to the bathroom.  Wow, a person with Crohn's continuously going to the bathroom...go figure. 
So what do I do?  Keep drinking.  Every time I go to the bathroom, I have a drink, on top of all the time in between as well.  Just keep drinking and eventually, the cough and cold works its way out of your system.

So, even if your Crohn's isn't active, you have a cold, you feel exhausted and out of breath AND you have dry mouth, you're probably dehydrated.....drink more.

Crohnie Quote of the Day

Sometimes the strongest people are the ones who love beyond all faults,
Cry behind closed doors and fight battles that nobody knows about.







.

New Piece

Here it is.....

this is what it looks like together...

...and, because it's actually 2 - 20 X 16 pieces, this is what it looks like apart...

 

 

 

 

Drug Interactions

I picked up my meds yesterday (Azathioprine or Imuran) and they asked me if I wanted the "Drug Interaction Report", I said sure and she put it in the bag.  I came home as usual, put my meds away and left the paper on the counter, not thinking anything of it.  This morning I got up, made breakfast and coffee, grabbed the paper, sat down and had a read.  So, while I'm enjoying my bowl of cinnamon and spice oatmeal and my freshly brewed cup of black coffee, I started to read........

"1 Drug interaction found", I stopped eating for a second....then read on......

"Severity Level - 2, Severe Interaction", I almost spat my coffee out.....then I read this....

"Clinical Effects - Concurrent use of a TNF blocker (Remicade) with either azathioprine or mercaptopurine may increase the risk of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTCL), a rare but usually fatal cancer",  WTF??!!

Wait a minute.....I'm on Remicade and Azathioprine......
I knew there was a chance, but to actually see it in writing from the pharmacist, gives you one of those "HOLY SHIT!" moments.  I read on and it says that the majority of cancer cases were in CD or UC patients and in adolescent or young males...

WHEW!!  thank god I'm "old".

Then I got to thinking.  What the hell DOESN'T cause cancer these days?  And it did say "may" . Oh well, if I get it, I get it.  Just something else to fight off.  But right now, at this minute, the drugs are working for me.  And right now, at this minute, is all I'm worried about. 
Tomorrow is another day....I'll worry about it IF it happens.  I guess I'd have to start a new blog  =)