Latest hospital appointment

Today I had another check up with my gastro nurse Deborah. It has been a month since my last appointment and a few things have happened since then. I've had a couple of bad spells with picking up illnesses and one morning spent being sick for 6 hours after a chilli (damn tomatoes!) but overall I'm feeling okay. The main problems for me have been the side effects with my steroids which is why I'm relieved that the nurse has agreed I can begin to reduce them again. In the next 3 weeks I should be off them completely and I hope this means I can say bye bye to the moon face, even Deborah said i look 'steroidal!'

It all sounds great but I could see they didn't have much confidence in my ability to be just on the azathioprine so I have been given some information on Humira so I'm prepared in case that is my next option. Humira is an injection i would take every 2 weeks and is also an immunosuppressant and would be taken alongside my azathioprine. The thought of injecting myself with something isn't pleasant but neither is surgery which is the step after that. Today was the first time that surgery actually seemed like a possible option which was scary and has really hit home.

On the advice of my nurse I'm really going to re think my diet (the fact I've put on more weight is also a factor!) I always feel hungry but now I need to look at what I'm eating and change it. I am on a low fibre diet but for me the problem is how much carbohydrate I eat so my focus now is more protein like oily fish and chicken. Fingers crossed this will help me feel better and loose some of the weight I've gained!

Azathioprine and Prednisolone

This week I had my first post-hospital check up with my Doctor. I first saw the nurse who took my weight (I've finally managed to put on some!) and my height (I've grown 1/4 inch, i'm now a massive 5"2 1/4! I then saw a specialist Crohns nurse who my doctor had asked me to see. She was the most helpful person I have spoke to so far and gave me so much information. The blood test from a couple of days before showed I still had high inflammation and low protein. I have come off the steroids I was on as my symptoms had got worse and she suggested the dosage wasn't high enough so I have been put on another 6 week course which decreases my one tablet each week, this is called Prednisolone. I have also been put on Azathioprine which is an immunosuppressant to stop the cells in my immune system attacking my body and causing inflammation. These can take up to 6 weeks to start making a difference so as the steroids decrease these should kick in and start to work. 2/3 people are fine on this but the other third can suffer from side effects such as flu symptoms and joint pain which I need to be aware of. It also says a 'very common' side effect is anorexia which I cant understand! I will need to have blood tests weekly to check my liver function  and anaemia which start this Friday. I also had several questions to ask which she answered fully such as Can I give blood? Nope, I need it! Can I take paracetamol and codeine? Yes, anything but ibuprofen is fine. Can I drink alcohol? Yes, in moderation. My original doctor came in to visit during the appointment and said some words that have really helped. He said its up to me now I really need to own it and if I want to be better they will do everything they can to help like giving me the medication I need but its up to me to take it and look after myself and focus on getting better. It has made me realise that this needs to be priority now and everything else like University and other things can wait. He said that if the medicine starts to work I should be able to go back but if they don't then I wont be able to go on the Cologne trip so fingers crossed!