Colonoscopy

The prep for the colonoscopy went well enough. During the procedure yesterday, Dr. Craig ran into a blockage and stricture. He used one of the smaller scopes and pushed through. That, along with how inflamed my colon was, stirred things up even more. Once I woke up in recovery, I figured the pain was the usual air trying to get out after the procedure. When I went to the bathroom, the pain started getting worse. It was eventually a 10/10, on par with the most pain I've felt from Crohn's in the past. I tried drinking some water and Ginger Ale and vomited within 10 or 15 minutes. I tried drinking some more a bit later, and I vomited again within 10 or 15 minutes, and started shaking a lot at one point. Dr. Craig was concerned that he may have perforated something. He even commented that it was the worst inflammation he has seen (what an honor!), much worse than in March, and he sees the sick of the sick Crohn's patients for stem cells transplants. They set up IV fluids, gave me an anti-nausea med, and decided to admit me.

I was running a fever so they gave me Tylenol, started me on antibiotics, Flagyl and Ciprofloxacin, gave me 1mg of Morphine to take the edge off the pain, and ordered x-rays of my abdomen. The x-rays were to see if any air was in my intestines, indicating a perforation that could have requires surgery. They kept me on a no solids and no liquid diet at least until they were able to see the x-rays and determined I wouldn't need surgery. The fever got up to 103F, and eventually broke this morning. The pain got better as the day went on, and the bleeding stopped this morning as well. I felt a ton better today after the fever broke, and the pain was less severe (3 or 4/10) and less frequent. I was allowed to have liquids for dinner. Broth, some jello, and a bit of a popsicle went down fine. I had a fever of 100.5F around when they brought the dinner, and that's where it is now. They're waiting until I can eat solid food and the fever is taken care of for good before they discharge me. I'll have soft food for breakfast and see where things go from there. I'll go into more detail once I'm feeling better, but I wanted to give a quick update for now.