Hi, my name is Diana and I am 39 (soon to be 40 in 9 days). I have had Crohn's
for 10 years before it got to the point were nothing was working. I have been on
every medication there is for Crohn's and it continued to get progressively
worse. Then last year was the last straw for me. I was in and out of the
hospital every other month. Had my first surgery in December of 2001 to remove
part of my ileum, then in March of 2002 had to have my entire large intestines
removed, this still did not improve my symptoms, I was still going the bathroom
30 times a day and continued with the weight loss. So in December my Gastro and
Surgeon decided it was time for the ileostomy. Had that done in January of this
year. Only had 8 cm of small intestines removed but what they found I had
fistulas in the small intestine above the area that was to be taken out, that
did not show up on any of the exams I had prior to the surgery. So far it has
been a life saver, I am able to do things I could not do before. Still can't do
much, tire to easily. Weight is still down, and have no energy. But hopefully
that will change once I recover completely.

The only problem I have right now is finding the right appliance to use. Since
my stoma is only 1/8" out of the skin I need what is called a convex appliance,
I have not found one that I really like much. Am trying from different companies
so will have to pick one soon.

Other than that am doing much better than what I was doing now I can eat (which
I could not do before), and do things with my son (that is if I do not have to
walk much right now). But hopefully by summer will be able to do more.


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