Tuesday 7 October 2008

What to expect if you are diagnosed with Chrones Disease

I feel that with anything in life and especially an illness like chrones disease, it is important to get all the facts, some of them may not be pretty, but for me at least if I have an idea of what to expect, I can then prepare myself for it. So here is what to expect if you are diagnosed with Chrones disease, warts and all!

When I was first told that I had Chrones disease the idea was very frightening, especially as there were so many unknowns. Even the doctors could not be totally sure of everything that was going to happen to me! So what can you expect? Well here are a few of the facts:

People with Chrones disease often go through periods of improvement which are then followed by deterioration and the experience increased symptoms again sometimes these periods of remission can go on for years. If you have chrones, you have an increased risk of small bowel or colorectal carcinoma.

Complications associated with Chrones Disease

You can get fistulas in the following areas:

  • Bladder
  • Vagina
  • Skin
  • Bowel obstructions
  • Abscess
  • Nutritional deficiencies (commonly vitamin B12 deficiency)
  • Complications of corticosteroid therapy
  • Erythema nodosum
  • Pyoderma gangrenosum
  • Inflammation of the joints
  • Lesions in the eye
  • Impaired growth and sexual development in children
Many of the words above are rather big and frightening, don't worry we will go through them over time in this blog. remember with chrones, knowledge is power!

Obviously if you have chrones, like me this list can be very frightening. Just remember: I don't think anyone has had ALL these complications with Chrones. This is almost the total worst case scenario. But as i said earlier I feel that it is important to know the facts about Chrones, but it is also important to know that there is also a whole life to live EVEN if you have Crohn's Disease. That is what this blog is all about, passing on the facts about chrones disease, the new treatments for chrones disease and as well showing you that there is also a whole life for you to live out there, so go and enjoy it.

I have had chrones for almost 6 years now and sure there have been pretty bad times, but I have also had many great times to that I wouldn't swap for anything.

Books on Chrones Disease
For more information why not try some books on chrones disease, there are people out there that are way better writers than I am!:

For people form the USA (Amazon.com)
Books on Chrones disease


For people form the UK (Amazon.co.uk)
Books on Chrones disease

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