ding ding - we have a GI Winner!

Omg! I love him! Hes wonderful!
He listened so well. Really gave me the feeling that we are a TEAM!

Also he didnt treat me like an idiot. He was impressed with my binder and all the time and effort ive put into learning about my disease! Which of course made me happy, lol.

I did have a diet form to fill out with my check in papers. Of course it just said water for every meal and two meals of soul. And a snack of saltines. Lol.
he wasn't worried about my diet... we talked about what I used to eat and he was happy with that. He was happy with my curcumin and probiotics.

He basically asked me what I thought... since I obviously knew my options and my disease... and I said I thought I should be on Imuran or 6mp. He agreed. I am getting blood tmrw to make sure I can take the 6mp.
we're keeping me on 30mg of prednisone until the 6mp starts to work. Im also having my vitamin levels checked. And a stool test for c.diff again. He thinks I probably still have it and wants to put me on a Vanco taper. Which makes way more sense than the last GI not giving me more meds or testing again for c.diff!

And.... to help the lower GI tract while we wait for the 6mp...
RECTAL MEDS!
getting steroid enemas. Not excited for the first few as I know I am ridiculously inflamed. But glad that he suggested them :) :)

Also... we went over my history. He was REALLY surprised that 1st doc (thd surgeon) did not do more for me... considering she listed my UC as SEVERE.
she didnt even tell me she considered it severe.

Frikk. So basically... I am in love with my new GI. To the extent that after my next appt with him in 2wks, ill probably cancel my Milwaukee appt.

Man... he was just great. Everything I could have hoped for.

He did express one idea that I havent wrapped my head around yet.
He wanted me to consider Humira. He said it will work a bit quicker.
Straight to a biologic... eek!
but wow... I really feel like I have a light now. The tunnel is much shorter and brighter!

Glad it went well. I would hold off on the Humira.

That is soooo exciting!

That is fantastic! He sounds awesome and right on the money! I am glad you found him!

I think you will be feeling so much better with Humira. Cimzia is not working for me so I think I will try Humira again.

Good luck!

One alternative to Humira is to take Cyclosporine (fast acting, temporary) with Imuran / 6mp (slower acting, long term). This is what I took after coming out of hospital when the steroids weren't working. I was able to come off the Cyclosporine after approx 6 weeks.

The Cyclosporine (Ciclosporin) worked overnight - literally - very fast acting.

I think I want to hold off on the Humira. I have quite a ridiculous needle phobia and biologicals are kind of further from my mind because of that. I also think I should save pulling out the big guns right away :D

Im really excited for a good GI and a good plan!

Not so excited to put an enema up my flaming rectum. And I feel like my hemorrhoids are NOT going to appreciate me trying to get in there.
I have 4 external hemmies... and they are like my butthole gate keepers... lol!

Katie, are you the one that referred to the hemmies as the alien nation coming out of the butt, or something like that... I can so relate!
The butthole gate keepers! (very deep heavy sigh)

Coffee- yes, yes... the alien's have colonized my butthole as their own settlement for a new civilization... and now they be the gate keepers of my rectum.

But I shall head into battle STRONG!
My enema and I WILL be victorious!

And im sure ill be able to retain the first one for like 5 minutes... lol.

Yay! Doing the happy dance for you! I'm so, so, so happy that it went well and that he LISTENED! I'm thinking the Humira sounds great. I know you're scared, but having done Humira and 6mp, the Humira was way easier on me than the 6mp was. It just wiped me out! It also works way faster than waiting the 3 months for the 6mp to kick in. That being said, you could try cyclosporine too.

Either way, sounds like you have a great doc, a great plan, and you might be well on your way to not having your poo be errrywhere! Woo-hoo!

that's great. I hope you are able to get back to healthy again soon :) Sounds like you're on the right path.

Very happy for you.

Oh brother, I can't believe what I typed got filtered... in case anyone thinks I was swearing at Katie, what I wrote was

L
M
A
O

awesome news eg - hope them hemmies part like the red sea for that razor sharp enema tip :-0 !

oh ya, soul and saltines ? one of my favorites too ;-)

Post Edited (soystud) : 3/20/2014 6:00:31 AM (GMT-6)