Emphysema

OK,,I've been on this board for awhile about my son who started out with Ulcerative Colitis.
He started Remicade about 5 years ago,,or so,,,It has helped it,,but he has other problems,,
He has sores over his arms and a few on his legs,,,that start out as a little red bump with a white head.
Then it takes forever to go away...so his Gastro doc put him on Remicade, every 4 weeks,,maximum strength.
The sore healed some,,but he will still get new ones,,,Now he has a lung problem,,had a cat scan and he has, an enlarged lymph node in his thorax area,,,and his lungs don't look well,,,he was smoking because nicotine seemed to help for some reason...Now his doctor said he has to quit smoking...He sees a regular doctor tomorrow to discuss his CAT scan,,He is so depressed,,,I worry about him...It seems one thing after another. if any of you smoked,,,and then quit,,,does it make your colitis worse? Does anyone else have these problems..?
Sorry to bug you all,,,but is there an end to this sickness?

Sorry to hear your son is having such a difficult time with his uc, and his other ailments. Autoimmune diseases, like uc, are terrible on the body and can lead to other autoimmune disorders as well (guessing that's what the sores are, maybe psoriasis?).

Nicotine can help some with uc, for others it does absolutely nothing. So, will quitting smoking hurt your son further, I cannot say for certain. Nicotine is most likely to help those who smoked, quit smoking, and then developed uc. It has something to do with nicotine thickening the intestinal walls and their mucus barriers (an area problematic for patients with uc).

Enlarged lymph nodes are not good, have they been investigated further to rule out lymphoma?

I understand your frustration, any sane would be given that history/story. Surgery can get rid of uc-related suffering. Uc attacks the large intestine, surgery removes that large intestine and with it, uc. One can get a j-pouch procedure done which attached the small intestine to the rectum, and you poop normally. An end-ileo is the other choice which gives one a colostomy bag.

It sounds as though there are many complications, especially with him smoking. I hope the doc's able to determine what exactly is going on and do more testing to find out.

Your title states that your son does have emphysema...or is it suspected? There are many causes of it..quitting smoking would be a huge plus at this point for his future regarding his lung health.

Would he consider having his colon removed?

q