Okay, so this post might be a little bit long so grab a cup of tea and get yourself comfortable!
Before we start, let's give you all a bit of a background story, just so as you're caught up with what's been going on. So in April of 2019, I got taken in to hospital with really bad back pain, started urinating blood too (not a good sign). I thought I just had a UTI and it would go away with a few antibiotics, like they normally do. Turns out, I was VERY wrong! So after sitting in ambulatory care for almost 8 hours, I finally got taken up to a ward and pumped full of antibiotics and fluids, unbeknownst to me what I was actually being treated for. Anyway, this went on for a few days until one of the junior doctors decided to casually slip into conversation that I was actually being treated for SEPSIS. I never in a million years would have thought something like that could happen to me, but, here we are! It scared me to death, the big 'S' word. I was quite literally shaking (also partly caused by the incredibly high fever I had at the time)!
Due to the fact that i was being pumped full of God knows what, the doctors decided it was best to take me off of my Crohn's medication. At least until the Sepsis had been treated. I was fine with that, fix one problem at a time, sounds like a plan. However, what they failed to tell me in that moment is that my liver function had dropped by enough points to cause slight concern due to these specific tablets. So I got taken off of them permanently. For the most part I was doing fine, still in remission for my Crohn's, I finished my two week stint in the hospital, recovered from Sepsis, didn't have any horrific problems, life was good, for about a year!
And we welcome you back to the present day of Easter 2020! (Includes some pretty graphic details, sorry)
I had been having stomach ache for a few days, but me being me thought nothing of it. I took some painkillers and on I went with my day. Because I was not taking any medication specifically for my Crohn's there wasnt much else I could do! However, one morning, at about 4am, I needed the toilet, really urgently. I had to get Adam to push me out of bed and help me to the bathroom because I was doubled over in pain. Once I sat down, it fell like a waterfall. I had my knees tucked in to my chest, a hot water bottle wedged between my thighs and my stomach, draped in a blanket. It wasn't a pretty sight! Once I was finished, I didnt feel any better, which is weird, because I normally do! So I went back to bed to try an get some more sleep. DID NOT HAPPEN! I was in so much pain, the pain relief wasn't touching it, the hot water bottle wasn't helping either. Adam started to worry at this point, he's not witnessed a full on flare before, so he was allowed to be freaked this time!
Nothing that I was doing was helping with the pain, so I made the decision to go to A&E. Because of the whole COVID-19 stuff, it was a pretty quick process. Was about 10 minutes from walking through the door to being seen by the triage nurse. I got taken through to a cubical where they did an ECG, and general poke about at my tummy. I also had an x-ray done on my chest and lower abdomen. Turns out, my year in remission had ended and my Crohn's had become active again, yay! So, again, was pumped full of fluids and antibiotics, sent to a ward and the next morning was told I could go home. This confused me a little bit because they sent me home without any medication. I was having an active Crohn's flare and they hadn't put me on anything to help with that- didn't make sense tbh!
So off I went, and surprise surprise, I was back in A&E a week later. I was sent on advise by my IBD team, because, obviously I hadn't gotten any better! So I had the same tests done again, aswell as a few more just to add on the end! My inflammatory markers came back at over 200 (they're meant to be about 7) so I was in for another night! Luckily, it was only one night that I needed in the hospital, I went home the next day but this time, they actually gave me medication to help! They put me on a 9 week course of steroids, gave me a weeks work of antibiotics and were putting a plan in place for the long term treatment. This, I was happy with.
It's been 3 weeks since I left the hospital for the second time and things have been rough but that was expected. I'm still not back to my old self due to pain, muscle aches, fatigue, etc, but I've managed to go back to work and that's pretty impressive! Theres still a long way to go but I can see light at the end of the tunnel (sometimes).
