Recently I talked with my blood doctor, and we decided that for the time being I didn’t need to be on blood thinners anymore. This means that, for the first time in nearly three years, I am completely off medicine! There’s always the possibility that I will have to go back on the blood thinners in the future, but for the time being, it looks like I won’t have to worry about any medicine.
It helps that I had ulcerative colitis, as my IBD problems have basically disappeared since surgery. Some areas of concern for the future are:
Blood clots
Pouchitis
Liver issues
For now, life is looking great, and I hope everybody gets good news like this at some point in their struggle with IBD.
It’s been one year since my last surgery, so time for an update on what my scars look like. All in all, I think they look pretty good. People seem to be very fascinated by scars, but I probably won’t do another video like this until next year at this time. My scars really haven’t changed much at all the last six months.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: How did your scars compare after a year? Reply to this post!
Hey everybody, Nadia was doing fairly well with her J-pouch for about six months. Then she had some complications. Most recently, she spent a week in the hospital after watching her J-pouch get sick (bloody stools, all that fun stuff).
They did a pouchoscopy and found some slight inflammation and ulcers developing. This video covers most of her time in the hospital, right before she starts college for the first time. She has yet to make a video describing the treatment plan for her J-pouch problems but hopefully it isn’t a serious issue.
You may remember a few months back I showed this video from Nadia about the insertion of her picc line. Well, a few months later, she developed a blood clot, and now the picc line needs to stay in for several months until the blood clot dissolves.
In the beginning, she needs the dressing for her picc line changed twice a day for a month. This video demonstrates the entire process of changing the dressing. Very informative!
Keep fighting. Even when we think we’ve won the fight, complications inevitably arise.
~Dennis
This video describes the complication that arose three months after my takedown surgery: three small blood clots in my lungs. This first video covers what happened to me; the second video will cover the causes and treatment of the blood clots.
Yesterday I introduced you to Nadia, a young woman who has suffered terribly with Crohn’s colitis. This girl has had so many flare-ups and hospitalizations that it’s unbelievable that she’s still here on this earth. Letting her disease go unchecked by surgery was not an option.
While the first part of her testimony tells of her early days with colitis, this video discusses her surgeries and recovery. She literally had no life before surgery, and now she has Life Abundant. She is further proof that life drastically improves after surgery.
Take note of her courage in showing pictures of her post-surgery condition, her ileostomy, and her diseased colon. While it’s always hard to see these sorts of images, even after I’ve been through it myself and know what to expect, they are a good reminder of where we’ve been and where we are now. Seeing her post-surgery condition compared to now, six months out from surgery, you can definitely tell that Life was returned to her.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
If you would like to contact Nadia visit her YouTube Channel and send her a message or comment on this video!
I want to start bringing to your attention others who make videos about their struggles with inflammatory bowel diseases. Check out this video posted on YouTube by Nadia. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s colitis as a teenager and has gone through the entire journey of suffering multiple flare ups, trying myriad medicines, undergoing surgery, living with an ileostomy, and now living with a j-pouch–all before she finished her senior year in high school!
For young women struggling with these diseases or with your body image, this is certainly a girl you want to get in touch with. Her personality is extremely bright and optimistic, even though she is still on medicine for her Crohn’s disease and could be in the early stages of primary sclerosing cholangitis.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
If you would like to contact Nadia visit her YouTube Channel and comment on this video or send her a message!
After having my colon removed, many people are asking me, “Do I miss my colon?” I have a hard time being attached to an internal organ, but I think the real question everybody is asking me is, “Do I miss my old normal, healthy life?”
My answer may surprise you. Or it may not surprise you if you’ve been following my story.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: Do you miss your colon? For those who have no more colon, please leave a comment!
Many of us have ostomies only temporarily. And many people around the world are in need of supplies. So if you have any extra unused, new, and clean supplies, send them our way!
We are collecting supplies to send to Haiti with a medical team!
Current progress:
1114 bags and flanges
2108 medical supplies
