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Surgery the next option??

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 1/9/2008 7:04 PM (GMT 0)
Well I went to my GI doctor today (I was in the hospital ER last week with a obstruction). He said that my CT scan showed alot of "internal fistulas". He said that I need to go the Remicade route along with a consult with a surgeon. I kinda blanked out when he said the "surgery" word. Have any of yall been on Remicade and still have to have surgery? Or did you bounce back when on it and didn't need to have surgery? I cant remember if he said that the remicade helped close the fistulas or not.
Posted 1/10/2008 3:12 AM (GMT 0)
Remicade has been shown to be successful in the closing of fistulas in some cases. I don't know the exact statistics. Last year I was given the option of going on Remicade, or surgery, but the doctors were recommending surgery because the advanced maturation of my fistula. And I had a hole in my stomach to let it drain and wanted to get rid of that so did the surgery since Remicade was no guarantee. But every case is different and surgery should always be avoided if possible to preserve as much bowel as possible. You should have your doctor explain all of this to you and what your chances are with Remicade and what they would hope to achieve through surgery.
Posted 1/10/2008 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
Matty G
Wow, the options your GI gave you are pretty scary. I think that the Remicade is a good idea, like Driver37 said, surgery should be avoided if there is another treatment available that might work to close the fistulas. On the other hand a consult with a surgeon might not be a bad idea either, at least hear what he has to say, surgery may be a better option than Remicade, I guess that would depend on how severe the fistulas are. Never hurts to get all info. before you make your decision. Good luck to you!
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