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I just have to rant right now. I have had my J-pouch 10 years. I think by now I can tell the difference between pouchitis flare ups and the stomach flu (or a virus). I currently have the later, and got so dehydrated from the loss of fluid that I went to the ER for help.

What did the ER doc do? Gave me cipro. Because he'd never heard of pouchitis before and decided that's what I had. wouldn't give me an IV of fluid to get re-hydrated. just sent me home with a Cipro rx and some zofran. I'm so mad. Why don't doctors trust us to know our bodies better than anyone? I'm so sick of not being taken seriously.

So now i'm home with awful stomach cramps and terrible diarrhea. Ugh.

Rant over.  (and no. Lomotil isn't touching this)

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Oh I feel for you and am so sorry your in this situation. More often than than not the ER doc ego ignores all. Sometimes you will get a good one that listens and understands you know your special plumbing better than they do. It's frustrating to contemplate going back...what about a call to your GI and request an outpatient infusion of fluids? My heart aches for you because I've been there too. Do you have a GI to call? Hang in there! Kara 

Generally ER doctors are not egomaniacs but interns let loose to cover for the attendings unless something is major...I have had an ER doc cast the wrong leg because he would not believe me when I said that my mom had broken her left leg (her right one was red and swollen)...needless to say, after the x-ray he had to recast her...

As for pouches...they are blissfully ignorant most of the time...it is not something that they learn about on general rotations...so you need to have your medical file on a data stick (USB key) and show them what you need...Have your surgeon write something that explains your situation and a list of possible problems/Solutions that they need to know about...

Make sure that he mentions dehydration as a serious problem and the need for I.V after a gastro or other intestinal virus...

You may occasionally find a great doc in ER but most of the time they are trained to deal with accidents, and cardiovascular problems...not dried out pouches.

Good luck...and stay hydrated.

Sharon

 

How frustrating! It should not matter whether you have pouchitis, a virus, food poisoning, or hysterics. If you are dehydrated and need IV hydration, the treatment is the same. Follow up antibiotics, if needed, are secondary. Perhaps your signs and symptoms had not reached the tipping point yet to be clear. Just trying to give the benefit of the doubt here to the ER doc, but still... some docs just look at the numbers, and not the patient and the history, but that takes time.

Jan

I actually avoid going to the ER unless I think I'm actually dying because I know I'll be in for the following:

  1. Interrogation about why I have Crohns but I'm not on 'medication' and how I must be either lying about the meds or living a horrible compromised life.
  2. Interrogation about why I don't have a yearly scope by a GI even though in Canada you don't see a GI unless you're having a problem. (I wish the GI doc would tell the family physicians and ER docs this fact.)
  3. After about 200 questions about my s-pouch, how long I've had, what my life is like, what I've eaten in the last 20 years, how many times I go to the bathroom, what that looks like, about five times over asking what meds I'm on because the answer "none" is not acceptable....then....we get to the reason why I've come into the ER. For example, when I was having a miscarriage and it had NOTHING to do with my s-pouch.

UGH.

J

 

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