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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 9/1/2008 3:03 PM (GMT 0)
My son is 12. In the past six weeks he became quite ill---they thought he might have appendicitis although the symptoms had lasted for almost a week. After the US and then the CT scan, they decided he did not have it and sent us home from the emergency department.

Here's the thing: they did find irritation at the site where the small intestine beends and the large intestine begins. We were told to go and see his ped which we did. I reminded his doc that I have ankylosing spondylitis and that he is B27 positive (a gene marker for AS in people who have it). His ped ordered an arthritis panel. My son has had various aches and pains---the ones that remind me of what I've had.

My son had that panel over a year ago. I knew the rheumatoid factor would come back negative---it had before and it tends to in people that have AS. In addition, the ANA was negative as was the test that looks for gluten intolerance. It took me several days to trach his doc down and nothing else was said. I wonder if, because my son also has anxiety problems, his doc might be thinking IBS?

EEERRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Anyway, is it possible for the symptoms to come and go? My son is feeling great at the moment.

I didn't think IBS showed irritation of any kind---esp on a CT scan---is that true? Am I being an over-concerned mother when I think he should see a GI doc?

Thanks!!!!

Elaine

Posted 9/1/2008 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
In my opinion, if you have a gut feeling you are not being over protective. You need to make sure that your son is getting proper treatment. Given your history, he could have something going on, but it could also be nothing. I have been through this with my own 2 daughters. My Mom had CD, I have CD, my Dad was diagnosed with AS in the last few years, so when they complain about anything, I do take it more seriously than some other Mom's. That's just the nature of the beast when auto immune diseases run in your family. BUT, you don't need to take a flying leap into the testing pool. If he is feeling fine and his lab work is looking good, maybe just keep an eye on things for a while, or run some of the less invasive tests to make sure that nothing is getting overlooked. Lets face it, some of the tests we have to under go, are pretty miserable, especially if you are a young kid. And to go through them when you are feeling fine, might not seem fair.
Posted 9/1/2008 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
Well first, the symptoms can come and go for sure.

I used to get what they thought was appendicitis when I was a kid. This happened for years and years starting when I was about 8. First they would think it was my appendix. Then as I got older they blamed it on my ovaries. It wasn't until I was 29 that I was finally diagnosed. I know it was Crohn's all along now. When I was young it would be attacks of pain in my lower right side, intermittent diarrhea and fever. Then I'd go months with no problems at all. They didn't have the tests they have now when I was young.

I would certainly keep an eye on it with your son. You sound well informed. Remember that a person can have IBS and IBD both. I sure hope he does not have Crohn's though.
Posted 9/5/2008 1:59 AM (GMT 0)

I thought I had turned on my notifications, but apparently, I did not. redface eyes

Thank you both for your kind words. My guy was feeling better, but the first week of school has been full of stress---lots of pain and maybe a little bit of diarrhea. Who knows? He will see his specialist at Children's on the 19th and I will likely ask him what he thinks would be a good idea. I still feel as though his ped has blown us off and that really bugs me. I don't want Jon to have Crohn's, but I do want him to feel better.

HW is always a great place to come!!!

Elaine

Posted 9/8/2008 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
I assume they did lab work at the hospital.  Did they check his albumin, hemoglobin, sed rate? Were those all normal?  If you haven't had those done, that could be a starting point.

Hopefully this is just something that may go away.  But the terminal ileum is a very common spot that Crohn's appears, so if they saw some irritation there it makes me a little nervous.  Also Crohn's can cause arthritis type symptoms also. 

My son had what seemed to be a stomach flu that kept reappearing every two weeks.  So yes it does come and go.  Well the third time it came back I knew something wasn't right and when we did the lab work, he had low albumin and hemoglobin, so we went to a ped GI. 

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