I managed to get a cold a few days before going to Chicago, but it hasn't been that bad. I'm still not quite over it, but I think I will be soon. I saw my GI, Dr. Yun, on Monday. It was pretty uneventful - just a normal assessment. I'm going to take Aciphex every other day now and see if that's enough to take care of the reflux. I'm still not on any Crohn's medications. I got my blood drawn afterwards, including for one last chimerism test, which was just part of the protocol for the 1 year followup. No expectation for it to have changed since last time.
I had a colonoscopy on Wednesday. Everything went very well for that. There were no signs of active Crohn's Disease, just leftover scarring and pseudopolyps. Dr. Yun took biopsies all throughout and those showed no signs of active Crohn's, as well.
I had an MR enterography (same process as last time) and then saw Dr. Burt on Friday. When I met with Dr. Burt, he had the results. Again, no signs of active Crohn's Disease. Regarding the blood work results, everything was fine. My sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein (inflammatory markers) were barely above normal. That is most likely due to my cold, though, given the rest of the tests showing no issues.
Dr. Burt was, of course, extremely happy with how I am doing. So pleased that he won't let me have another colonoscopy unless I start to have symptoms. The results regarding whether or not I'll need my immunizations again will take a while longer to come back, as will the chimerism test. I'll post another update about that when the time comes. After that, there isn't much else to be concerned with other than how long I stay Crohn's-free.
Hi, Patrick. Your blog's an inspiration. I'm in the process of setting up my consultation with Dr. Burt and I'm really excited about the possibility of life without Crohn's disease for the first time in 16 years! It sounds like it was a bit of an ordeal getting through it all but well worth it so far.
ReplyDeleteHey, Derek. Glad to hear you're pursuing this! Feel free to email me at pmdement@gmail .com if you'd like to talk more. Good luck!
DeleteHey Patrick, I had a question if you don't mind. How is the fertility testing going? I'm planning to do a transplant after I graduate next year and I am not in a relationship yet. I'm just a bit worried about the whole fertility issue one might have
DeleteI asked another individual who had the treatment not long ago and placed his videos on YouTube as sort of a vlogging of sort. And with him, he hasn't had any issues of the sort. I understand everyone's different but I feel like I need to take a sample of what are people experiencing with this issue after this transplant. Thanks in advance and sorry for the wall of text
Hi Patrick- I have read your entire blog and its truly an inspiration. Ive had Crohns since 2005 and none of the meds have worked. I have turned down surgery numerous times also. I just called Northwestern today about this, they said somebody is going to call me back today or tomorrow. It would be great to be healthy again. How long do they think they you will be Crohns free? 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? my email is colestainke@yahoo.com . I tried to email you at pmdement@gmail.com but it didnt work?
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