Crying Wolf

Crying Wolf (or maybe not)

I started writing this post a while ago but for one reason or another didn’t get round to finishing it. (My wife would say it’s a “man thing”). I’m not sure it will add greatly to the body of knowledge about Crohn’s but, from a purely personal level, it allows me to keep a record of my appointments and procedures.

I’m returning to a subject I’ve written about before but this time the effects are worse and have lasted longer, sufficient to make me very concerned.

On 5th May I had an annual check-up with my GP and had pre-empted the appointment with a full blood test. The results came back OK except for lymphocytes and platelets (expected). I emailed a copy to my gastro consultant and mentioned that I had been getting abdominal pain for the last few weeks and rushing off to the bathroom. He replied that I should have a calprotectin test and would have a sample pot sent to me (hopefully).

The symptoms are a pain around the midriff; extreme tiredness – so much so that I can get in from work, have dinner, then collapse on the sofa and wake up at eleven ready to go to bed; but most worryingly, and not wanting to get too graphic in a blog that may be read by non-IBD sufferers, let’s just say the phrase “through the eye of a needle” comes to mind.

I’ve been told told that if you can visualise  pain it is much easier to deal with. Mentally I lined up the suspects. The “upset stomach” could be from :

i) a virus picked up on the train up to London
ii) eating something dodgy (I did eat out in a restaurant in Highcliffe one day and the food was pretty disgusting)
iii) wearing a very tight belt whilst doing a lot of physical work

or the one that constitutes the “elephant in the room” – five years of Crohn’s remission was at an end

Ironically the last time I saw my Gastro consultant I had told him I felt very well and couldn’t see why we didn’t extend the gap between appointments from six to twelve months. I was now regretting it and had started to notice my weight was dropping and the ache around my anastomosis was getting more frequent.

I would have to see what the calprotectin test showed. The sample pot had still not arrived so I took it upon myself to get one from my GP, fill it with the “necessary” and drop it into the IBD Nurses at Guy’s Hospital.

The result came back on 14th June. My consultant emailed “Interestingly it has risen to 436” (previously 179) and suggested that a colonoscopy ought to be the next step. “Would I be OK with that?” Not a problem but I was starting to wonder if I was “crying wolf” as ever since I had dropped the sample in, I had started to feel a lot better. I think this must have been wishful thinking. Something had caused my calpro result to keep rising and my weight was still falling (down to 82kg from a high of 91kg).

The colonoscopy was duly booked – 12th July. I wondered how that would allow my small intestine to be seen. My consultant wrote back  that the colonoscopy would be able to reach just past the anastomosis, the most likely place to find inflammation if it had restarted. If the scope showed nothing then I would need further tests by which I assume he meant a scan. I’m sure he would not want to risk a Pillcam.

This post will continue after (tomorrow afternoon’s) scoping. One more sachet of Citrafleet to take………

The Colonoscopy

I’m not going to describe the whole colonoscopy process, just the things that made this one slightly different and the conclusions.

Firstly taking the prep timing has changed at St. Thomas’. For an afternoon procedure instead of taking both lots of prep solution on the previous day they are now split and the recommendation is to take the second sachet at 9:00am on the day of the procedure. This didn’t seem like a good idea, especially with a travel time of nearly two hours on public transport, I decided to take that second dose at 5:30am and I’m glad I did. It had only just finished “taking effect” at 10:30am when I was due to leave home.

Secondly, and this one would make a good subject for a fashion blog, the very flimsy paper briefs that one previously had to put on have now been replaced with some very stylish dark blue paper boxer shorts with a large slit up the back. Modesty prevented me from taking a selfie and posting it.

For the first time ever the nurse had problems finding a vein for the cannula. After two attempts with my right arm she handed me over to her colleague. Luckily she tried the other arm and was successful.

cannulaOne of the doctors came in to get the consent form signed and I explained that I wanted to keep alert throughout the procedure, so that I could ask questions, and mentioned that my weight was a lot lower than previous scopes. He decided to give me less sedative than usual and that worked fine.

Whilst my main GI consultant watched on, the doctor I had seen earlier started the scoping. As the camera made its way ever onwards it started to show mild inflammation in the colon but when it reached the anastomosis the inflammation disappeared. The doctor decided to see how much further he could get the scope into the small intestine, made possible by my ileocaecal valve having been removed during my ileostomy

Normally I don’t notice the movement of the camera, the air to expand the gut or the liquid used to clean the lens but that final push was the exception. I ended up being asked to roll onto my back which made it a little  easier. Once again there was no inflammation and with that the scope was withdrawn.

The conclusions were : ongoing, mild colonic Crohn’s disease but no evidence of recurrence in the neo-Terminal Ileum (the most likely place for it to reappear following surgery).  My consultant said that colonic Crohn’s would explain the high calprotectin result but he was clearly most concerned about the weightloss (down below 80kg for the first time since before my ileostomy) and sent off a request for an MRI scan.

By 15:30 it was time to leave St.Thomas’, clutching a copy of the report and accompanied by my escort , a fellow GSTT IBD patient who gave up her afternoon to help. Thank you. (I have since been able to repay the favour by agreeing to talk to some undergradute nurses about “Living with IBD”).

On the way out we called into the  MRI unit to see if it was possible to book a date there and then. Unfortunately bookings were done from a different location but the receptionist confirmed that the request was already on the system and marked “Urgent”. I should be seen within 2 weeks.

The Scan

After a couple of days I tried ringing the MRI Unit to find out if they had allocated a date yet, after all, if I was to be seen inside two weeks, surely I would need to be on the schedule by now. Disappointingly the answer I got was that they were working through the bookings “in order”. It didn’t make a lot of sense.

I left it over the weekend then tried again. This time the person I spoke to must have realised the urgency and I was given a date of Friday 29th July, at Guy’s, 12 days from the request going in. I would not need to be accompanied this time as there would be no sedation involved. I then received a letter for a follow-up gastro appointment to discuss the results – 5th September.

The day of the scan arrived. I made my way into the unit. It was newly refurbished and extended and had only been open a few days. The number of scanners fhad been increased from two to four.

You are asked to arrive early as there is a prep solution to drink. I knew what to expect – a thick, lemony liquid with the consistency of wallpapaer paste. I must remember to keep stirring it. But no, it was all change. I was given a one litre bottle of a clear fluid and a glass of water as a “chaser”. The nurse told me to drink a cup of the liquid every 5 minutes. She mentioned that it wasn’t that palatable and she was right. I must have managed to drink about three quarters of the bottle before it was time to be cannularised.

prepFor the second time in 3 weeks the nurse had difficulty in finding a good vein that would take the cannula tip all the way in. On the third attempt, using the other arm, it was finally in place.

I’ve described MRI scans, in detail, elsewhere in this blog so won’t repeat it all here. They are noisy machines so I was rather surprised to have fallen asleep towards the end of the procedure. I think it shows just how tired I have been recently.

A radiologist would interpret the results and have the report ready for my gastro appointment.

Harmatology

Just a routine, 12 monthly Haemo appointment. I didn’t have a list of questions because nothing had changed since my last visit. The doctor called up my records on her screen and said, in passing, “just to put your mind at rest – the MRI scan didn’t show anything unexpected, just some mild stricturing in the small bowel which had been seen before.” Interesting. I wasn’t aware of the strictures. Something to discuss on 5th September. To be continued…..