time for a medical update

Thought it was about time for a little update on my health status...

I went to UT Southwestern this past Monday, June 24th for a second opinion. It was determined that I am steroid dependent and that I do in fact need surgery soon. Because the doctors don't want to do surgery while I am on steroids and my body is dependent on them, I am weening down slowly.

I am only on 5mg of Prednisone, and have been at that dosage for 6ish months (total of 14 months on Prednisone at different dosages. The max you should be on it is 3 months). However, any time I have gone from 5mg to 2.5mg I have gone into full flare again. So for now we are going down 1mg a week until I am completely off. This should take about 4 weeks with hopefully no complications.

I meet with a surgeon this Wednesday, July 3rd for a surgery consult and to schedule a surgery date. This should be happening within the next month to month and a half.

It is major surgery. They will start laproscopic and if it looks worse than they thought when they get in, they will have to completely open me up. They will be taking the diseased portions of my small intestine and also my ileocecal valve.

The plan is for me to be in the hospital for 4 or 5 days. The recovery time is about 6 weeks.

Please keep us in your prayers.