Hey Crohnee!

It’s that time again, newsletter issue #6 is ready to go and there have been some major changes at CrohnsHelp.com!

Here are a few of the highlights:

- Great New Crohn’s Guide Found!
- We’ve Completely Changed The Blog
- An NFL Quarterback has Crohn’s?!

Click here to read our Crohn’s Disease newsletter…

Finally, we’re going to be starting a fund-raising event soon (I’m planning it out now). It’s still in the beginning stages so I’ll fill you in soon.

21 September 2006 | Crohn's Disease | No Comments

I get a lot of questions from concerned women as to whether they can still get pregnant and have a healthy baby. Research does show that your child has a higher chance of having Crohn’s disease and the chance gets much higher if both parents have Crohn’s.
However, to date no research has shown that Crohn’s holds you back from having a baby.

Another article printed and titled “Women with health issues can still have healthy babies…” discusses the same issue in more general terms about women with chronic diseases.

Here was an interesting point made by the article:

If it goes uncontrolled, the baby’s oxygen supply may be decreased. Medications for thyroid disease may need modification during pregnancy. People with auto-immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease may do better because the immune system is somewhat depressed.

It seems that the article recommends all women to most definitely seek their doctor and fetility specialists when they are trying to get pregnant.

19 September 2006 | Crohn's Disease | No Comments

As of about a year now, I’ve had this awkward problem that keeps coming up. It’s not exactly acid reflux in that I eat and then it burns my esophagus, but it’s more that my upper upper stomach area gets VERY tight and tense.

It’s not even all that painful, just really tight and I get massive indigestion (get bloated and all). And, yes, when I burp I do get reflux…

SOMETIMES, I also get a slight “pin” type pain in the upper right or left region.

This pay May when I got it again, I had a new GI at that time and he was the one that pointed out it was most likely gastric reflux, he had me start over-the-counter Prilosec. Guess what? It took care of it!

And, I’ve been on it since, however, recently it all came back (and a bit worst than before). So, now the doc also added Zantac 75 at night…

Do any of you get this?

17 September 2006 | Personal | No Comments

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of this question - please tell me once in for all, does my diet REALLY have anything to do with me having Crohn’s Disease or at least does it have any thing to do with my flare-ups?

I’ve asked my GI doctors many times now and they consistently just tell me “Avoid whatever makes it hurt, but no, no specific diet has an impact…”

The only ONE thing that they all seem to agree on telling me NOT to take is Dairy (which I never really liked anyways, so no biggie).

Research Shows Link…

A recent research done at the University of Auckland actually seems to show a direct link between diet and Crohn’s Disease.

Of the 700 people with forms of IBD interviewed in the study so far, more than 50% could identify foods that relieve their symptoms, and almost 90% identified foods that made their condition worse.

Click here to read the full article…

It’s a semi-interesting article, but I have to say - it STILL does not actually help answer the question of what actually is good or bad for a Crohn’s Patient.

This study only seems to confirm what almost ANYONE with Crohn’s Disease already knows (common sense) - that some foods hurt and some don’t…

But which ones do what? Is everyone truly a unique case?

17 September 2006 | Crohn's Disease, Crohn's Diet | No Comments

Hey Crohnees, one of our fellow Crohnee is looking to raise some money for his medical costs…a young recent high school graduate just started experiencing pains in May 2006 and now needs surgery.

His medical bills have already totaled $36,000 and that is not including his surgery (he does not have medical insurance). I remember when I was in the hospital for a month (mostly in the ICU) and had major surgery, my insurance was billed for $160,000! So, I can only imagine what he’s going through…

“We really aren’t shooting for a number [of dollars],” Hughes said. “We are just doing what we can do to help out.”

If you can and want to help him, please send him an e-mail to:

matthew.watkins@theeagle.com

16 September 2006 | Crohnee Stories | No Comments

When we conducted our own research, we found that just a little over 50% had had surgery, myself included (I’ve had multiple surgeries). However, this particular article reports that over 75%?

Unfortunately, surgery is necessary in approximately 75% of people with Crohn’s Disease. This may be done for a variety of reasons, including excessive bleeding, perforation of the bowel, intestinal obstruction, formation of an abscess, or when other medical treatments fail.

Link to the full article… 

I’d be curious to see where she got those stats because they seem a BIT high to me. However, the rest of the article has some great information on the various kinds of surgeries there are for Crohn’s Disease…

For example:

Strictureplasty is the most common surgical procedure performed for Crohn’s Disease. This is a procedure in which a narrowed area of the intestine is widened. Patchy, diseased areas narrow and are known as strictures. Because these areas of diseased bowel alternate with portions of normal bowel, cramps occur as the normal bowel tries to compensate for blockages that arise.

If you have questions about Crohn’s Disease Surgeries, then I recommend you read this article - it’s not 100% complete, but it’s a good article.

16 September 2006 | Crohn's Disease, Crohn's Treatments | No Comments

News from: EndoNurse.com

On Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center celebrated the opening of the Jill Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Made possible through a $4 million gift from Jill Roberts, a long-standing friend and patron of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Medical College of Cornell University, the center will support patient care, research and educational outreach focused on the conditions of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

You can read the entire articles here… 

I guess it’s great news that word about Crohn’s Disease is really starting to get out now if people are starting to make such large personal donations.

We can only hope that the money is put to good use!

15 September 2006 | Crohn's Disease, Crohn's Research | No Comments

I’m sure you don’t want to be getting ready to shove your mouth full of mashed potatoes and hear “yea…and then I had a toilet full of blood…”

Yowza.

Well, there is an interesting article published in KXAN.com where they outline a few different stories and show the lack of support others show to Crohnees…

Catherine says, “At school, for instance, because of the ‘no running in the hallways,’ because you could trip and fall, kids have actually blocked me in the hallways, so I couldn’t get to the restroom.”

Another interesting story - something I didn’t know…

A quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, David Garrard, has Crohn’s Disease - wow! A Crohnee made the NFL - that (for some odd reason) actually made me feel very good.

But, even he talks about how he gets made fun of by the guys.

Bottomline, there is still a great lack of support for those with this disease. Whens the last time someone made fun of a heart patient after he had a heart attack?

Anyways, the article only goes to show that we need to work harder to raise awareness about Crohn’s Disease…

8 September 2006 | Crohnee Stories | No Comments

Hey Crohnees - question for you…

I take Remicade and have noticed something. When I sneeze, I see a LOT of little “fly looking” lighs zipping all over the place for a little bit of time (maybe 10 seconds) and then it goes away…

I have noticed that it started when I started taking Remicade and that it stopped in the middle when I tried to unsuccessfully stop taking Remicade…

Just curious if anyone else is experiencing the same?

4 September 2006 | Personal | No Comments

O man, I’m going to stay out of Canada. On the other hand, I already HAVE Crohn’s Disease, so what does it matter!

I wonder if it’s something they put in the water there…

This article written by Paul Taylor states that 1 in 300 Canadians have some Bowel condition!

I’m still in awe, is it just me or does this seem like a disturbingly rapid growing condition?

2 September 2006 | Crohn's Disease, Crohnee Stories | No Comments