My Escape from Captivity
Yesterday I walked out of the hospital a free man after an 18 day captivity. That’s right folks, I spent the last 18 days in hospital. Fun times.
I was admitted on Oct. 23 and had an operation on the 24 to excise tissue and drain the re-infected abscess (as predicted in my last entry). Anyways, after the surgery, the ball got rolling regarding treatment of the Crohn’s. I got a barrage of tests done and it was revealed that I had a pretty serious obstruction at my terminal ileum (the end the small intestine), and since I hadn’t been eating much for a month or more, was substantially underweight and undernourished.
I was put on an all fluid diet for fifteen days and had a peripherally inserted central catheter put in (a PICC line is a catheter inserted in a large brachial vein and threaded in the chest, so that medication and whatnot is delivered directly into the superior vena cava, just centimetres from the heart), so I could be fed intravenously (Total Parenternal Feeding, or TPN). I was also put on a number of major medications (antibiotics, immuno-suppressants, anti-inflammatory agents), including a pretty serious cortico-steroid (So, sadly, I can’t compete in any international sporting events for a while ). The steroids, the 6 - 8 Ensure extra-calorie meal replacements and the 1800 calories a day injected through the PICC line allowed me to gain nearly ten pounds in five days
All this stuff was done to try to reduce the infection and swelling that was causing the obstruction, and if unsuccessful I would need pretty major invasive surgery to remove about 8 inches of small intestine. Fortunately the big bad meds managed to reduce the blockage enough to allow me to start tolerating solid food again on Saturday night. I was taken off the TPN on Tuesday and kept under observation. For another couple of days, and finally, at noon yesterday I had the PICC line removed and was sent home, after eighteen long days.
Though I’m out of the hospital, I’m nowhere near in the clear yet. I still have a partial obstruction in my terminal ileum and I’m still very underweight. As well as taking all the various medications, I also need to seriously modify my diet to try to control all this so I don’t need to get part of me removed. Dietary restrictions for Ian now include, but are not limited too: no dairy products (same as before), no uncooked veggies (so long salads . . . ), no raw fruit (with some exceptions), nothing with seeds (berries, kiwis, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc), nothing whole wheat (Wonderbread here I come . . .), no heavy meats (roast beef, steak) and basically nothing with fibre. Since, because of the steroids, I’m hungry pretty much all the time, and all my meals need to have as many calories packed into as small a package as possible, it looks like I’m going to be going through ALOT of peanut butter (only the smooth kind though), tuna salad, eggs and bacon and spaghetti and meat sauce. And of course, my new best friend, Ensure Plus.
So there is a brief summary of how Ian is doing, I’ll update you guys on my progress as well as recount some of my hospital stories, good (like all my interesting roommates - I had 8 different ones), bad (like the worst, most painful 75 minutes I have ever experienced - getting the PICC line put in) and funny (like the arrival of an enormous pig. I’m not even joking).
Thanks again to all who have supported me and to all of you who will help me become the Ian I want to be over the next few months
---> I.
I was admitted on Oct. 23 and had an operation on the 24 to excise tissue and drain the re-infected abscess (as predicted in my last entry). Anyways, after the surgery, the ball got rolling regarding treatment of the Crohn’s. I got a barrage of tests done and it was revealed that I had a pretty serious obstruction at my terminal ileum (the end the small intestine), and since I hadn’t been eating much for a month or more, was substantially underweight and undernourished.
I was put on an all fluid diet for fifteen days and had a peripherally inserted central catheter put in (a PICC line is a catheter inserted in a large brachial vein and threaded in the chest, so that medication and whatnot is delivered directly into the superior vena cava, just centimetres from the heart), so I could be fed intravenously (Total Parenternal Feeding, or TPN). I was also put on a number of major medications (antibiotics, immuno-suppressants, anti-inflammatory agents), including a pretty serious cortico-steroid (So, sadly, I can’t compete in any international sporting events for a while ). The steroids, the 6 - 8 Ensure extra-calorie meal replacements and the 1800 calories a day injected through the PICC line allowed me to gain nearly ten pounds in five days
All this stuff was done to try to reduce the infection and swelling that was causing the obstruction, and if unsuccessful I would need pretty major invasive surgery to remove about 8 inches of small intestine. Fortunately the big bad meds managed to reduce the blockage enough to allow me to start tolerating solid food again on Saturday night. I was taken off the TPN on Tuesday and kept under observation. For another couple of days, and finally, at noon yesterday I had the PICC line removed and was sent home, after eighteen long days.
Though I’m out of the hospital, I’m nowhere near in the clear yet. I still have a partial obstruction in my terminal ileum and I’m still very underweight. As well as taking all the various medications, I also need to seriously modify my diet to try to control all this so I don’t need to get part of me removed. Dietary restrictions for Ian now include, but are not limited too: no dairy products (same as before), no uncooked veggies (so long salads . . . ), no raw fruit (with some exceptions), nothing with seeds (berries, kiwis, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc), nothing whole wheat (Wonderbread here I come . . .), no heavy meats (roast beef, steak) and basically nothing with fibre. Since, because of the steroids, I’m hungry pretty much all the time, and all my meals need to have as many calories packed into as small a package as possible, it looks like I’m going to be going through ALOT of peanut butter (only the smooth kind though), tuna salad, eggs and bacon and spaghetti and meat sauce. And of course, my new best friend, Ensure Plus.
So there is a brief summary of how Ian is doing, I’ll update you guys on my progress as well as recount some of my hospital stories, good (like all my interesting roommates - I had 8 different ones), bad (like the worst, most painful 75 minutes I have ever experienced - getting the PICC line put in) and funny (like the arrival of an enormous pig. I’m not even joking).
Thanks again to all who have supported me and to all of you who will help me become the Ian I want to be over the next few months
---> I.