Always On Your Mind!

As quick as you can be in remission is as quickly as you can have a flare. Also, as quickly as a medication works for you is as quickly as the medication can stop working. This was all on my mind, on Black Friday this past November.

An infection and increased urgency

As all my friends were waking from their turkey comas and heading out to the stores, I was dealing with a terrible sinus infection. I could tell that it was an infection because my face felt like someone was sitting on it. I also was dealing with all of the other common flu-like symptoms. My stomach was not terrible that day, but I had an increased amount of urgency. I remember having to use the bathroom a lot which was on my mind, but I thought it was just “one of those days!" One time I didn’t make it to the bathroom in time. Wow, that was weird. I knew something was going on.

So many thoughts were racing through my mind as symptoms worsened

Did I have a stomach virus? Was my Humira not working? Ugh, there was something always on my mind. I happened to have a doctor’s appointment to get my flu shot later that afternoon. I knew deep down inside that my doctor was not going to give me that shot. I did feel better that I was going to go see him. I wanted to see what he thought about the pain in my face and my stomach issues. In the back of my mind, my medication was not working.

My doctor was very concerned

When I got to his office, he was not really happy with what he saw. He swabbed me for the flu, but that came back negative. He then pulled up the blood work that I had done earlier that morning. It read that my kidney function was a little out of whack. He started to ask me questions about my stomach and we soon realized that I was dehydrated. He followed up with checking my pulse. My pulse was running very high. They call this tacit cardiac. This was a strong sign that I was in trouble.

Finally, he checked my blood pressure. It was very high. Let’s just say, I was not getting my flu shot. My doctor then started to ask me about my stomach symptoms. He questioned my stomach issues. He was very concerned and asked if I had contacted my gastroenterologist. This really got me thinking. Was I developing anti-bodies to my Humira? Ugh. I really thought my doctor was going to send me home by the way...

A trip to the emergency room

He kept going back to the dehydration. He really did not feel comfortable sending me home for the weekend on just Gatorade. He thought it would cause more cramping and stomach problems. Then those dreaded words came out of his mouth. “I want you to go to the Emergency Room,” he said. Are you kidding me, I thought. But I understood where he was coming from. I could use the fluids I thought. There I went, driving my self to the hospital... Once again, thinking “is my Crohn’s getting worse?”

Paul shares the outcome of this visit in his next article, "Black Friday Hospital Visit!"