My update: JP drain and abscess

I went back to the hospital two weeks ago and I had a large abscess drained and a JP drain put in. It's still in at this moment. Back on Halloween, I had a bowel resection and have had recurring abscesses since then. My surgeon doesn't seem to want to admit this, but it seems my bowel has perforated at the site of the reanastomosis (where the two parts of cut intestine are put back together). The CT scan reports all seem to suggest this, but no one is certain. And after seeing the fluid coming out of this abscess, I'm pretty certain it's from my bowels. No wonder I feel like crap. Yesterday the fluid started turning a bright green, too, and today the amount has increased quite a bit. There is still some blood and I feel pain when it's about to seep out into the drain.

So I don't know what to do. On Monday I see a new GI. He's fairly young and didn't have many answers when I was in the hospital. What I do know is that every GI I've seen has had a different opinion than the other, but no real answers, either. One wants to use Humira, but won't prescribe it because my insurance doesn't cover him, another is against using absolutely anything in the presence of infection, and another just doesn't say much at all. What do you think I should do? The highest my white blood cell count has ever gotten is around 20, and last time it was 15. I currently take 10mg of prednisone daily and Asacol, which doesn't seem to be doing anything for me. Pentasa seemed to work for me in the past, but maybe that's because my Crohn's was moderate.

I also hope to make more sense of my symptoms. I have recurring bladder inflammation and pain when urinating, and pain in my pelvic area. Also, my arthritis has worsened a lot, especially in my hips.

You might want to ask at the ostomy forum too, as they will have more info about JP drains and surgery.

It really worries me that you're not on an antibiotic with this going on, especially while on prednisone. These doctors know that the prednisone is going to mask infection when it comes to wbc.

I had one surgery while on long-term treatment with prednisone and my sutures just came apart leaving small holes that took a long time healing. My epidermis was so thin from the pred. that it couldn't support the pull of the thread. Thankfully this was a laparascopic surgery. But it makes me wonder if your anastomosis hasn't done something similar. And Mike could be right about it possibly being a fistula. Either way, some doctor needs to pay attention. Get well soon. Saying a prayer for you.

Thank you for the Ostomy forum recommendation. I checked it out, too. There is air coming out of the drain, and it was drained only for the first week, and not while I've been at home. Right now my prednisone dose is between 7.5 and 10mg. I was only on Humira for a short time a month before the Halloween surgery. Some GIs seem to want me to go on an anti-TNF drug now, while others feel the infections would make that too dangerous. There has been acknowledgment that this could be fistulas or a perforation, but nothing definite. Some want me to go off the prednisone completely, while others say 10mg shouldn't be a problem. I do have such bad pain and the prednisone has helped with even worse flareups, like stomach ulceration. My doctors aren't treated this pain at all - they're just ignoring it. If that would just get acknowledged, I would have the strength to do so much more for my own health.