My son

Dad of Jake,

I had no idea that years of immuno drugs could lead to a type of lymphoma. I am so sorry to hear of your son's diagnosis and will keep him and your family in my prayers. Thank you for enlightening us on the potential consequences of Imuran by sharing Jake's story. I hope he pulls through.

Sue

Dad, I haven't read anything about this yet. I will keep your son in my prayers. My sister-in-law had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. No one in the family was a bone marrow match and they couldn't find any donors. They ended up using her own bone marrow. She is cancer free 15 years now. I hope for a speedy recovery for your son.

I'd like to thank everyone for their responses. As my son is in an active stage of ulcerative colitis right now, we will be trying to achieve remission by his first use of Remicade. If that achieves remission, the risk of infection is lowered so the doctor can administer  chemotherapy drugs. He has to have the drugs in any event, but active bleeding invites infection, so Remicade may be a critical component of this whole thing.  I appreciate your prayers for my son. Dad of Jake

I hope the Remicade works for him.  How old is he?

I am so sorry to hear about your son, I will keep him in my prayers for a speedy recovery.

I am so sorry to hear about your situation. Your son and family are in my thoughts and prayers.
*hugs*

What a terrible thing :( I'm so sorry you both are going through this. He's lucky to have such a caring father by his side.
It's scary that the things we are given to make us feel better in one way can sometimes cause such drastic, terrible side effects/other conditions. I do not have any experience with this, though I have heard of the connection of immunosuppressants and lymphoma. I wish I could offer some advice, but at this point I suppose the best thing to do is just stay positive and don't jump to any negative conclusions, not until you have all the test results and second opinions and the whole works.

Perhaps if Remicade can improve his colitis, then he will have more strength to heal and fight this off and get better.

I'll keep your son and family in my thoughts and send some positive energy his way.

Jakes Dad,

  My prayers are with you and your son. I have a eight year old daughter that was diagnosed with UC at the age of 15months.  I will never forget the feeling of hopelessness we felt when she had a bone marrow aspiration done to check for leukemia.

 Her immune system was so weak and just not functioning right. 

 Since October 26 2006 She has been well.

 Please take the time to read her story. It is posted under my signature. She has been off of all medications since October 26 2006.

 I will pray for your son. Please email me if you need to talk.

been said b4, wish you and your family the best.  really puts my situation in perspective.  best wishes you guys are in my prayers!!!!!!!!

gym

Hello Jake's Dad,

You and Jake have been on my mind since reading your post. Although I'm still reeling a bit from my son's diagnosis, I felt compelled to respond to you. My son had a total colectomy with permanent ileostomy (done in two stages) for UC. He was diagnosed at 4 years old and subsequently had various tests over the ensuing years to confirm UC and rule out Crohn's. His disease was very aggressive and not responsive to the meds or vigilant following of SCD. He was deteriorating from continuous loss of blood that couldn't be controlled, so last summer we made the decision for colectomy. He did very well afterward for about 6 months, after which abdominal cramping and fever came back, and recent tests revealed he has Crohn's. Now he is on Remicade and doing fairly well.

It's agonizing. There are people on the ostomy site who, even decades ago, had total colectomy (not j-pouch) for UC and are doing great with no signs of Crohn's at all.

I do not regret the decision for colectomy for my son, in fact, I wish I had done it sooner, despite the Crohn's diagnosis. Because, while he is not free of many of the ravages of the disease, he is free from the exhausting and debilitating diarrhea. For us, the ileostomy is a cakewalk in comparison to that.

It's a very difficult and intensely personal decision, but if Jake has UC and not Crohn's, colectomy might be something to ask his doctor about, to free him of the UC so he may better fight the lymphoma.

Keeping you and Jake in my prayers. Please keep us informed if you can.

JsMom (Jeremy's Mom)

Dear Jake's dad,
My heart goes out to you,be strong and take one day at a time.