Question about dh and his issues

[Ali]

He is still having severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea. He has been sick for two weeks and lost more than 20 lbs so far. He can't eat anything without pooping it right back out. He is very weak and gets dizzy easily (although the dizziness may be a side effect of the anti-cramping med he has been taking).

The doc ordered more blood work on him, which he had drawn on Saturday. The results from his stool culture came back with blood, which dh said he could have told them. So the office is supposed to be scheduling him a colonoscopy. Dh says the blood is bright red, as opposed to darker or brownish, which my mom says is good (lol) because according to Nurse Mom that means it's fresh blood and hasn't been laying in there from an old bleed. Ok.

Kenny is really frustrated. He is tired of being so sick. He doesn't think he should be working, but feels guilty over missed work and loss of pay. This is a whole new ballgame for him, and he doesn't understand why the doc doesn't seem to be taking it more seriously. I don't know what to expect :dunno:

So, all you internet armchair doctors, what can you suggest or recommend? Any BTDT's? Even horror story ones? ;) At least that would be information, which we are sorely lacking at the moment.

Thanks.

[lunita]

He is still having severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea. He has been sick for two weeks and lost more than 20 lbs so far. He can't eat anything without pooping it right back out. He is very weak and gets dizzy easily (although the dizziness may be a side effect of the anti-cramping med he has been taking).

The doc ordered more blood work on him, which he had drawn on Saturday. The results from his stool culture came back with blood, which dh said he could have told them. So the office is supposed to be scheduling him a colonoscopy. Dh says the blood is bright red, as opposed to darker or brownish, which my mom says is good (lol) because according to Nurse Mom that means it's fresh blood and hasn't been laying in there from an old bleed. Ok.

Kenny is really frustrated. He is tired of being so sick. He doesn't think he should be working, but feels guilty over missed work and loss of pay. This is a whole new ballgame for him, and he doesn't understand why the doc doesn't seem to be taking it more seriously. I don't know what to expect :dunno:

So, all you internet armchair doctors, what can you suggest or recommend? Any BTDT's? Even horror story ones? ;) At least that would be information, which we are sorely lacking at the moment.

Thanks.

(((hugs))) I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on tv, but googling Inflamatory Bowel Disease, Crohn's Diseas and Ulcerative Colitis will give you probably more information than you need. I'm sorry the doctors aren't being more forthcoming. :(

You might want to ask his doctors if he can/should be taking iron supplements.

[ADDled]

Yup, this sounds just like my mom and my good friend's husband, both who had Crohn's/Ulcerative Colitis.

It's an autoimmune disorder and it's diagnosed by a scope. It's usually treated with steroids, and then with diet to avoid flares, and there are some alternative treatments also. In advanced stages, they take out part or all of your colon. If that's what it is, it's no picnic but pretty treatable.

I hope he gets some answers soon!

[jump4joy]

Another possibility is parasitical infection. That sounds exactly like what my DH went through, and they didn't diagnose the parasitical infection until they did the colonoscopy. They had originally told him they thought it was ulcerative colitis, but it ended up just being Cryptosporidium - not fun but easy to treat. Apparently, there have been lots of Crypto outbreaks in the last few years, so it's not uncommon at all.

[riversprite]

This sounds similar to what I went through in the fall. I ended up going a month like this and ended up in the hospital for a colonoscopy and they admitted me on the spot. (at that point I was only going from the bed to the bathroom and Marc had to stay home to take care of the kids)

As Amy said above, I was treated initially with steriods (which stopped it *immediately*).

I would also suggest googling Inflammatory Bowel Disease. ( I have Ulcerative Colitis)

Like Robin said though, it could be a bacerial or parasitical infection. There was nothing like that in his stool culture?