Sinking back into the UC pit...

OK all.  Sorry for disappearing from sight, but did end up in emergency last Thursday and was just discharged this afternoon (Tuesday).  I was pretty dehydrated and v low in hemoglobin counts etc. when I got to the ER.  Anyways, spent 4 days on IV steroids, pantoloc, buscapan and gravol, then another 2 weaned off the IV and back on the oral pred combined with Cortifoam enemas.  Also had a CAT scan, abdominal xray and culture samples done to be sure there was nothing else going on.  Turns out my entire colon was inflamed so no wonder I was in such pain.  Am much better now.  Bleeding has stopped, although still definitely flaring as bm's still loose and urgency still there.  At least it is only 5 or so times a day though and I feel like I should be on the road to a proper recovery with a bit more rest and care in my own bed.  Thanks all for thinking of me and will keep in touch over the next few days to let you know how I am doing.

P.S.  Thanks for the great food tips.  Chicken and rice sound like a good menu plan for the next few days (stuck with fluids only in the hospital so will have to work my way up to it).

sickmom,

Glad to hear you are feeling better.

Sounds like the rest and care you received helped a lot.

badslinke said...
Sickmom you really ought to check out this post, as the little girl had vomiting just like you. I really, really think you got a bug.

Haileys Letter

It's a pretty shocking story, from a few years back.

Good to hear you're better for now. What's the current treatment plan?

I couldn't get to the "Hailey's Letter" link from your post. Do you have the url?

Had a very good day today. No visible bleeding, a few urgent bm's but they actually seem to be solidifying a bit and were not painful in the least which is a huge improvement in itself. Am so happy to be home with my little girls again and my parents are staying with me for the next few days to help out with the child and house care duties.

Current treatment plan is 30 mg prednisone, Cortifoam enema twice a day, and 150 mg of Imuran. Will hopefully go down by 5 mg a week over the next while and get off the darn prednisone sooner rather than later, but for now it certainly seems to be helping. Want to try out the psyllium seeds and VSL probiotic, but I am in a very small town at the moment without access to specialty items such as that. May get my hubby to try and source some out and bring it up to me on the weekend.

badslinke said...
Just search for haileys letter in the search box and you'll find it.

Good to hear you're at least ok for now. The psyllium and vsl combo works pretty well, but it may not spell continued remission for you, especially if you've got a bug.

Keep us posted! You may want to check out the thread entitled "combo antibiotic treatment" as well, shortly after you check out haileys letter.

Did the docs do any extensive testing when you were admitted to the ER?

Will try the search. And yes, they did do quite a few tests while in the hospital. They did a CAT scan, abdominal xray, and 4 different stool culture tests (to rule out c difficile and any other potential germs). Everything came back clear in regards to other infections, so they were pretty convinced it was just serious exacerbation of my UC.

Another good sleep last night so hopefully today is even better than yesterday. Upward and onward!