Friday, September 05, 2014

Crohnie Update

Did you know, that this summer I started taking drugs? Injecting myself with drugs in fact. This drug is a Crohns drug, and is supposed to help decrease inflammation and make me feel better. I waitied a long time to take this drug. It has many very serious side effects, which scare the bejebers out of me. And for many people, it does not work at all. But this year, I got really sick again, and decided that I was out of options, and had to give it a try. It was scarry, and a huge process of red tape to get insurance to cover it. This is an ongoing process actually, I am still not covered. But the drug company has a compassionate care program that gives me the drug for free until I can get coverage. Which is awesome because it costs about $1800 a month.

Anyway, it is helping. I have gained weight and am not longer 89 pounds soaking wet. I can no longer see my skeleton through my skin. I have boobs again. I am able to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Summer has never tasted so good. I have to replace my veggie scrubbing brush for the first time in years, because I have actually been using it this summer! I enjoy kale. I eat it in salads, stir fry, soup, tacos, on pizza. I ate a ceasar salad and did not have to lay moaning in bed for 2 days over it. I actually have to pay attention to how much junk I eat, because I think I gain weight like a normal person now!

It's not all sunshine and rainbows though. I was also taking a "booster" drug to help the main drug be more effective, but my liver does not agree with it, so I had to stop taking that one. I am hoping my liver will recover. It's a wait and see thing. And hoping also that the main drug will still work without its booster. And I still have Crohnie issues, mostly bathroom related that are too gross to discuss in polite company. But it is slowly improving, and I hope will resolve so that I can avoid another major surgery, which is where I was headed.

So that is my Crohnie update. I am a much nicer person, less irratable, nicer to my kids and able to do more fun things when I am not in pain all of the time. I missed me. It is so much easier to be excited about life when I am not hurting.

(I just realized when searching for a picture of myself, that I dont really have any!  It seems I am always the one holding the camera. And I am not really a "selfie" person. This pic is random, from our trip to Camrose. I have no idea who the old lady is.)