Happy Health Update to You!
April 10, 2008
It’s another week in the life of my general medical excitement. And what have I learned this week?
- Last week involved eight separate biopsies from inside my bits. All came back normal (phew) except for the section in which I’m currently having my Cronn’s-inspired fun.
- I am a heterozygote: genetically partially deficient in Thiopurine Methyltransferase. What the hell does that mean? Well, it means I can’t really make enzymes to metabolize 6-mercaptopurine. In English? I have to be real careful if they ever put me on the old-chemo-drug 6MP because I can’t really metabolize it and could end up with bone marrow toxicity. Yuck! p.s. This was what my “odd” blood test was last week that left me waiting around the hospital for so long.
- “People who are left-handed have a significantly higher risk” for Crohn’s. Hey! I’m left-handed! Cool.
- New treatment ideas for Crohn’s include purposely infesting oneself with a parasitic worm (by swallowing eggs). Regions where this worm is endemic have effectively zilch Crohn’s.
- I’ve started on probiotics to kick-start some stuff in my bellyguts to both spur on the good kinds of bugs and also to kick down my immune system’s attack in general.
These are the pills I’m taking in the morning these days. The evening regiment is similar.
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Wow girl. You know how to party! Blue ones, green ones, white ones, off-white ones, and 8 shots of water. As they say in Northern California … it is Chico Friday … college lingo for the “drinking” weekend begins on Thursday night!
Sorry about the Crohn’s. My own experience with an autoimmune disease started several years ago when I came down with iritis, or inflammation of the iris. Your mention of Crohn’s disease sent up a red flag with me because that’s one of the other diseases I can potentially come down with. Fortunately I haven’t any other reactions other than the iritis, which flares up every 8 months or so and I’m able to quash the inflammation by applying steroid drops. Thank goodness for modern medicine, otherwise I’d likely have lost some of my vision by now. I’m starting to notice a correlation between coming down with a slight stomach bug and the iritis. Seems like a bug in the gut can cause the immune system to go into overdrive, and attack the eye. Go figure.
If haven’t already done so, make sure that you’re getting the best medical care possible. I was fortunate in that there was an opthamologist up at OHSU that was also an expert in autoimmune diseases and he was able to answer a lot of my questions. My wife has had a back ailment for years and has learned how to “work the medical system” to get the best care. Advocating for oneself is critical.
Best, Chris