Once the disease was found it was time for treatment. It is not known how you get Ulcerative Colitis. For some reason the immune system starts attacking the colon as if it was a foreign object. There is a cure for this disease but it involves removing the colon. The drugs that are given are just trying to put the disease into remission. Some patients can go years without a "flare-up". It was time for the soldier to figure out how to put his disease into remission.Once he started to take the horrible steroid after about 3 months his stomach started to feel better. His biggest problem was that steroids are so bad for a person that you can't take them for long. Once he stopped taking them he would have another flare-up. Dr. PJ put him on several different drugs in hopes that something would start working, but the only thing that worked was the steroids.
Another two years had passed and the army came calling. His reserve unit was being called up in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They learned that instead of going to Iraq they would be going to Landstuhl Germany to take care of the wounded soldiers. He talked to his doctors and it was decided it would be okay for him to deploy since he was going to a hospital where he could continue to get care.
It was back to the scene of the crime, if you can call a misdiagnosis a crime. Upon arriving the Soldier started feeling a small bump on his bum. He went to sick call and was scene by a doctor that told him it was probably a bruise and it would just take time to go away. At this point he had been on steroids twice already that year and was starting to have another flare-up.
A couple months went by and the bump never went away and started to get worse. It was very uncomfortable to sit down so he decided to bring it up to the gastro doctor. Dr. Tennessee was one of those doctors that was just doing his time. He had a fairly good knowledge of Ulcerative Colitis, but wasn't used to having to deal with patients for more then three days. Soldiers that end up at Landstuhl that are injured were very rarely there for longer then three days before being shipped off to a hospital in the states. He took a look at the bump and knew right away that it wasn't a bruise. He made the Soldier an appointment with a general surgeon the next day. Because of the flare-up he also put him back on the steroids.
If the Soldier thought a civilian doctor was rough when doing an exam, he was in for a real eye opener when the general surgeon took a look. Dr. Pink walked into the exam room wearing pink scrub bottoms with a light blue flowery scrub top. You could tell he was in a hurry and had better things to do. He asked the soldier to lay on his side with his pants down. What came next was pure pain. He was everything but gentle when examining this bump. He told the soldier it was probably a fistula and need to opened up now.
The surgery was set for the next day and was very uneventful. The Soldier was given a spinal block (essentially a epidural) and Dr. Pink made a small incision. He was released from the hospital and wasn't even given time off to heal. Two weeks later he was in for a check-up and Dr. pink showed just how ungentle he was. He had the soldier lay on his side and started sticking a long cotton swab into the wound. The pain was so bad the Soldier swung back and hit Dr. Pink in the arm. Everything seemed fine and he was given another check-up appointment.
Lucky for him Dr. Pink had been sent to Kosovo, so for the next appointment he was seen by Dr. Airforce. Dr. Airforce was a young surgeon, but really cared about his soldiers care. He wasn't the typical Army doctor. The Soldier worried about getting the cotton swab again so he decided to load up on the "Happy Drugs" before he went in. Dr. Airforce walk in and just started talking to the Soldier about his life, the disease, and Dr. Pink. After about 20 min. finally he said well maybe I should take a look. Everything looked fine and it was decided that this would be the last follow-up visit. Unfortunately this wouldn't be the last time the Soldier would see Dr. Airforce.
A month went by with little change. The steroids hadn't taken control so there was still stomach pain and bleeding, by this time it was just part of life. When he started to feel another bump he got concerned. One big difference between Ulcerative Colitis and Chron's disease (another inflammatory bowl disease) is the development of fistulas. In most case but not all, fistulas are only experienced in Chron's disease. The Soldier new that chron's disease was the worse of the two. He went back to Dr. Airforce and he wanted to go in and take a look for himself. He didn't say it, but you could get the impression he wasn't impressed with Dr. Pink.
The surgery was the set up for the next day. Dr. Airforce came into the pre operation room and started to talk to the Soldier. After a few minutes the nurse came in and shut the door. She seemed to think they were getting a little to loud for the other patients. They were laughing and telling jokes. The soldier felt very comfortable with him.
The surgery was a normal fistulatomy. What came next was a series of events that were actually very funny.........
Psssst............. that picture is of Dr. Airforce an all around good guy.
1 comment:
With Annette having to take steroids, I can relate to what the drugs were doing to you. They took her off them when she started to bruise and feel tingling in her hands. At leat for now the hives have stayed away. I do feel for you though, it sounds like you have had a little taste of what hell must be like.
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