My girlfriend has CD. I have a question..

So my girlfriend of two years has Crohns. We're also in a long-distance relationship and see each other a few times a year.

The first time I met her back in 2006, she had literally left the hospital earlier that day for an ileostomy surgery. She was pale and frail, and though she wore a smile, I knew little about how she was really feeling inside. I didn't know much about the disease at the time or even what an ileostomy was.

Much has changed since then. She's gained weight. No more attacks. She sees her doctor regularly and is on Remicade. She meets with a nutritionist and is on a strict diet. As for myself, I've learned a lot about CD and can understand better what she went through in 2006 and what she goes through now.

This year she's anticipating surgery to remove the stoma. There's a bit of concern about how her body will react. She befriended an older woman in the hospital with CD who had gone through several surgeries and recovery, but had to return to hospital because of some complications. She was eating right, but her digestive system would not process the food like it should and she was getting diarrhea among other problems.

As with my girlfriend, they removed a part of her intestine that regulates food passage and a part that absorbs acid. I don't know the actual names of these parts. My girlfriend said they are vital to digesting food and without them, you may have digestive problems. She couldn't explain it to me better than that because she doesn't know what to expect of her body after the surgery either.

So that's why I'm here. I guess I want to know if there are others here who can shed some light in this area. What are these parts of her intestines that is missing and how big a deal is it that they are missing? What can she expect?

Thank you for any information you can share.

Wayne

Post Edited (WayneH) : 4/7/2008 11:23:17 PM (GMT-6)

Hello WayneH,

Welcome to the Forum. Please encourage your grilfriend to join us here. She can learn alot from the many very (unfortunately) experienced people that frequent this site.

I suggest she have a long talk with her Dr to make sure she knows exactly what was done to her during the surgery. The better educated she is, the better she will be able to handle CD's symptoms and make wise decisions about future surgeries, medications, and foods. Sounds like she has good Dr. because she is on Remicade. Hopefully the Dr. is experienced with CD.

Thanks for being there for her!!

Hi Wayne, I think you might be talking about the ileol-cecal valve (sp). This regulates the passage of food and therefore diarrhea
usually becomes an issue. Mine was removed with part of my ileum, during my first surgery. I do still have diarrhea issues and
absorption problems. The doctors did tell me that overtime the bowel can re-learn to regulate, so I guess it isn't all doom & gloom.

However, your girl friend has already been through a lot, and probably already know this stuff...

Props for being a stand up guy! It shows a lot of love that you would take the time to come here to learn more for the two of you.

The largest problem I have (other than the D and crippling pain ;-)) is vitamin B absorption. I used to give myself B12 injections, and now take an intra-nasal spray that helps greatly with my fatigue. The last part of the small intestine is where a large amount of our B vitamin absorption takes place. This may be something she wants to look into. Not a silver bullet, but what is? Best of luck.

Mark Mac