Any success stories?

well, I am not in remission (yet) but I sure as heck feel a lot better with my treatment. Keeping my fingers crossed that when I ween off entocort the inflammation will not come back but for today I am feeling pretty good.

55 years of good health before being diagnosed with Crohn's after my first colonoscopy. Have had a resection but very few symptoms ever. No side effects from the med I am on. Golf, curl and ride my horse. Have had a stress filled year (my Dad just passed away from bone cancer) and other issues I have posted but as of today things are a whole lot better.

Life is good and I am thankful every day for family and friends including ones on this forum. Thank you for your support.

 

I'm in remission and have been for 14 months! And have spent the majority of the eight and a bit years I've had Crohn's in remission, I'm quite lucky even though my Crohn's is classed as severe it is remissive, just means when I'm ill I'm really ill but inbetween I'm great!! I just loiter on here mainly as I'm a massive procrastinator lol and also the people here gave me so much help whenever I felt poorly its nice to think I might be able to give some of that back. I also know 3 people in real life who have Crohn's and they're all doing great too.

Well I have lived with this darn disease for almost 35 years and I have been in remission for over 5 years. I still have bumps in the road once in awhile, but for the most part I am doing well. I credit my maintainence meds for keeping me this way, thats why I am always a big proponent of maintainence meds. Hugs!

I'm in total remission. There are a lot of people who are doing great and have no reason to be on these message boards anymore. It's expected that the posts will be mostly from people who are having problems because they want their questions answered.

To jpnutritionfirst: What does "Organic SCD" stand for? Thanks!

I know how depressing these forums can be without any of the ‘light’ that remission tales can bring.

I’m 24, and I have had Crohn’s (what my specialist terms severe and aggressive crohn’s colitis) for 5 ½, almost six years. I was diagnosed in my 1st yr of university and though I flared constantly throughout my degree, I finished with a high GPA!

Throughout uni I had a negligent GI who neglected my condition to the point that I had multiple abscesses and fistula, and through desperation I took myself to the ER and had multiple hospital stays before dumping my GI for a fantastic surgeon who put me onto an absolute gem of a specialist – a leader in the gastroenterology field in research and treatment in Australia.

I am now on remicade, and have been since October last year. I felt the benefits right away and my abscess wound from surgery and the fistula began healing days after my first infusion.

I am still in remission (or what I would term remission) and feeling great. I still have odd days where things are bad because I have a stricture, but all in all, compared to ‘life in a flare’ – I feel fantastic. I now really appreciate the good days, and I feel positive that whatever happens I have a great team of doctors behind me. I work full-time and am going to begin my honours degree at university in July this yr. I am proud that I got through uni and kept working despite Crohn’s and abscesses! I won’t let this darn disease hold me back!

I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was 17 years old on March 2, 2005. I'm now 23 and I've been in relative remission since May 2005 and have been fistula and abscess free since early 2007.

Prior to being diagnosed I weighed 174lbs (5ft 8in) and played high school football. I dropped to 135 lbs in less than a month and was bed ridden with a fever for 5 days before the doctor finally decided that imuran, prednisone, and cipro alone wouldn't be enough. With my first dosages of remicade immediate relief came and as I mentioned within 2 years I was complication free. I am still traumatized by the pain I underwent when first diagnosed. I had a marble sized abscess that had to be excised and drained with a catheter thingy (looked like a small straw), which was by far the most painful thing I've ever experienced. The abscess site was SO tender and this rigid straw thing would dig into it bone deep. I had to walk around school doped up on lortab with a straw sticking out of my rear and a packing that absorbed..drainage. I was only 17. After the catheter was removed an EUS discovered several fistula tracts and in order to prevent further abscesses, a fistualectomy was done in addition to a seeton placement. I had the seeton for about 10 months, which meant keeping a packing up my crack to collect drainage from the fistula hole kept open by the seeton. The fistualectomy scared me so bad. I got into the shower post surgery, took my packings off and blood spilled everywhere. It looked like a pig had been slaughtered in my tub there was so much blood. I felt around near my anus and found a hole that I could insert 3 fingers about 2 inches deep into (fistualectomy). It was just scary. I feared I was horribly scarred now. How the hell would a hole like that heal up?(guess what though, it did heal!) And you can imagine how it felt to defecate with all of this going on...felt like acid coming out. I've been fortunate and not had anything removed from my internally though.

That is a small glimpse at my story. I've also battled severe life threatening fungal and bacterial sinus infections that required surgery on many occasions. I've been hospitalized with pneumonia, laser treated hand warts weekly for 2 years (SO PAINFUL), fought off molluscum and even MRSA.

Where there is a will there is a way. Despite all of this, I will be graduating in Fall 2010 with a degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering. I worked all through college, paid my way, dealt with crohn's and all of it's complications, and gained my weight back and more. I now weigh 192lbs...can you believe that!!!?? I have crohn's and I weigh 192 lbs with approx. 10% body fat. I can bench press over 300 lbs, and I've NEVER ONCE taken anabolic steroids. If I can do it, SO CAN YOU!

Please never lose hope. NEVER. This disease attacks your mind as much as your body. Keep your heads up...