Some news better than none I guess

Hang in there, Spooky. I will keep good thoughts for you !

Mark

From what I've read, the degree of inflammation does not always correlate directly with symptoms. Severe inflammation can have few symptoms and mild inflammation can have severe symptoms. So, hopefully, the Flagyl is a quick fix!

Jan

That's why you're awesome, Jan - that's pretty much what the GI said as well. However, he says the inflammation still does not really explain the bloody stools I've been having, hence the c.diff test. I just dropped off the samples this morning so I probably won't know until at least Monday if that's what we're dealing with.

I'll be starting the flagyl tonight. Obviously he wanted me to get the stool sample first before the antibiotics potentially knocked anything out. I hope it helps. It's been a particularly tiresome month, not to mention I'm going to a wedding in few weeks and I want to be at least half functional for that!

Thanks, Mark! I need all the positive energy I can get!

Yeah, bloody stools without significant cuffitis would either point to C. diff or bleeding upstream, neither one a good thing.

I forget, was camera pill endoscopy done or discussed if Flagyl ineffective or the C. diff tests negative?

Jan

Jan, the camera pill was discussed several months ago. It got hung up in red tape due to the fact that it is not currently covered by OHIP (Ontario health care). I had an MRI enterography in February which showed the small bowel to be normal, so it was decided at that point not to proceed with anything. At any rate, we know I am an adhesion former, so that in and of itself may contraindicate the pill endoscopy. And, as I mentioned earlier, my GI is leaving at the end of the month. I have a referral to a new GI, but I don't know when I'll be able to see him. They haven't even called with an appointment date. But, when I do get in, I will certainly bring up the camera pill issue again. Honestly, I don't really feel good about any of this. The bleeding has been my primary concern and it's been distressing not to have it resolved even months later.

Just out of curiosity, would it be possible to have Crohn's isolated higher up in the ileum, with no pouch involvement? I'm almost suspecting that is what the problem may be, if this does not turn out to be c.diff. The irony is despite all this, pouch function itself has remained good.

You can get a patch of Crohn's anywhere in the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus. The MRI enterography would have had to miss it, though, so I hope that's not it!

Yeah, so that is the point of the camera pill endoscopy. There are oodles of new Crohn's diagnoses specifically because of the camera pill. On another thread someone mentioned a "test" capsule that is empty, but radio opaque. If that makes it through, you are good to go with the camera pill. If not, it dissolves and no obstruction. Seems like the perfect solution to the dilemma. Of course, moot point if it is not a covered examination.

Jan

Considering we can get funding for this, I'd definitely request the test pill first. That's a very good idea. I'm not at all keen on the possibility having this thing hung up somewhere in my digestive tract.

I hope flagyl does the trick but otherwise just wanted to let you know that my daughter had the pill cam at the children's hospital last summer and it was completely covered. The issue of coverage/funding was not even raised? Odd.

killcolitis,

Maybe it's covered for inpatients? Or, perhaps it's covered as a pediatric procedure. My GI discussed this at length with me in March and he even called to try to get me approved. That's something I can definitely ask about, though. As much as I hate the hospital, at this point, if I had to go in for a day or two knowing we could finally sort this out, I would do it.