When none becomes two

So, as we know, I was on the urgent referral pathway for gastro. Until I wasn't. Well, before Christmas, I felt rough, so extra blood tests were ordered. Turns out my rheumatoid factor was also up. Speaking to experts, it was clear a rheumatology referral was needed for that, and they'd likely start with a …

Understanding the insides

So after having my day as a cyborg, the images were back with the team and it takes about 10 days for them to go through them. The device takes images all the way through the small bowel, but stops when it reaches the large bowel. But it also doesn't neglect the stomach, so you've …

When one becomes none

I know you thought today would be an update on the capsule endoscopy, but you'll have to come back next week for that! Because we're back talking about the NHS. Remember back in April when this journey started? Yeah, it really has been that long. I scored crazy high on the FCP test, which warranted …

Taking a closer look

So far in the Crohn's diagnosis pathway, we've done a colonoscopy and an MRI. However, whether the cyst was going to add complication things was one question, the other was to see if there were signs of disease beyond the 12cm of inflammation we could see from the MRI. The consultant was keen we only …

More Latin to get your head round

Remember the palaver I had with the infected wound? Well, it turns out as one medical door closes, another one opens. The antibiotics chosen to treat the wound were potent. In fact, they're the only ones that could treat the bacteria that could be taken at home orally, rather than in hospital via an IV. …

15 in the bag

Hello blog fans - and apologies for the big old delay since my last post! Turns out not too much happens too fast in the health system so I thought it was best to get a few under my belt so we could have a little run of Tuesday lunchtime updates once more. The last …

A Chemist a day

As I referenced in the last post, the wound was infected and so the path to recovery is slower. I deliberately didn't include the trips to the Chemist in this because they seemed too important to the story to not be a main character another day. So the first trip I took was on the …

Let the wound see the light

As I left hospital, I was told to keep the steri strips on and to keep changing the dressing. I was told the strips would fall off in good time. About 10 days post-surgery I decided that they were about ready to come off. As I peaked under the surface, what I saw wasn't a …

Said with conviction

If you've not read last week's post, you're missing a fair chunk of context for this one! So maybe go back before going forward. After eating my tea, and more and more questions from family questioning if I was ok, we decided peace of mind was better than waiting for the GP to call, as …

One one wondering what’s going on

So truth be told, I wasn't feeling all that cheery post op. Whether it was the antibiotics or something else kicking off. I'd been spending far too much time on the loo. After 4 days, and 3 days off antibiotics that hadn't changed. And I decided this was a bit of a worry. I was …