A month on Meds

On Saturday it will have been a month since I came out of hospital where I was diagnosed with Crohns and things are definitely much better! I'm having more good days than bad and some days when I forget i'm even ill at all. I've been able to go and visit Coventry which I didn't think I would manage for awhile but its also shown me that I do need to take it easy and i'm not as strong as I was before. I get tired quickly and my legs ache but I hope that when I come back to University in January I will be able to cope. Since coming out of hospital I've been on some medication which I think has been working for me. These are Entocort which I take 3 capsules but will only be 2 next month, 1 capsule of Omeprazole and 2 Adcal tablets (my new prescription is for tutti-fruiti flavour!)  All the tablets are fine but its taken some time to get used to not being able to eat an hour after I've taken them! It means getting up an hour before I want to eat breakfast! 

Hopefully i'm going back to see the gastroenterologist in a couple of weeks and then I have an MRI scan on Friday and that will be it until the new year which is exciting. I can see in myself the progress I've made, not just with how much better I feel but how well I can cope with things. I was terrified of needles and couldn't get a blood test but now the thought doesn't scare me, I might even look into giving blood! Things are definitely looking up! 

Back to hospital!

So I spent this weekend preparing for a Colonoscopy on Sunday afternoon. The last time I was in hospital I had a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy which is sightly different as it doesn't go as far round. I also didn't do anything to prepare I was just taken straight up in the morning. When the letter came through the post for the Colonoscopy it was very confusing, I must have read it hundreds of times and seemed to get different information each go! That's when I decided to have a look online... 

For anyone who is getting ready to have a procedure that they are a bit worried about I really would not suggest you look on forums, there are some complete horror stories on there! Most people said how awful the laxatives were and that the whole experience was really awful. Luckily I found it fine and I wish I hadn't looked before! I hope that if anyone is searching online they find this instead so they can see its really not bad at all! 

The laxatives I had to take were 10 tablets on Thursday and Friday which had no effect at all and then a sachet on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I expected the sachet to taste disgusting after it fizzed in the bowl but it was just a strong lemon flavour. The worst part of the weekend was not being able to eat after 1pm on Saturday, that evening I was so hungry but the clear soup we made just didn't sit right on my stomach! Sunday wasn't so bad as I felt a bit nauseous anyway so i didn't think much about food. Other than going to the toilet a bit more than usual it was fine, I would recommend having a hot water bottle though to ease your stomach as you can feel it bubbling!

The trip to the hospital went really well. We went into the endoscopy unit which I recognised from before. They spoke through everything with me and then it was about an hour before I changed into my gown and was taken into the room. The nurses were lovely and the doctor was much more friendly than before! A cannula was inserted in my arm which was the worst pain but even that doesn't hurt much now. I was then given the sedative through it and told to enjoy the drugs! I was expecting to have a long nap but I actually stayed awake the whole time. I could feel it but it didn't hurt it was just uncomfortable when the camera went round corners. The whole procedure only took about 20 minutes and then I was wheeled back to the ward. I couldn't wait to get out so I got dressed and the nurse took my needle out, I left the hospital within half an hour complete with pictures of my insides!