Introduction:
My name is Tiffany. I am a 25-year-old middle-school math teacher. I am Mormon (LDS), and recently married (December 2011). I like reading, hiking/camping, and spending time with my family.
Symptoms:
Pain a few times a day (my intestines feel like they’re burning) but there’s no urgency to go, pain in my rectum (I have external and I think internal hemorrhoids), blood at the end of some BMs but not mixed in with the stool, and small but mostly formed BMs a couple of times a day.
My Story:
A little background: I was diagnosed with UC about a year and a half ago after having 20+ bloody BMs per day for over a month, along with a few ER trips. The condition came six months after I had c. diff. from too many antibiotics from walking pneumonia and an unexplained white blood count of 23 within a month of each other. It took a long time to diagnose because they thought it was just c. diff. again. I spent 10 months on a high dosage of prednisone along with mesalamine and imuran. It took that long to wean off prednisone because about 6 months after getting diagnosed I got salmonella and spent 5 days in the hospital. After getting off prednisone I spent about 7 beautiful months in remission and got married during that time.
About two months ago (and two months after my wedding), I got c. diff. again (even though I wasn’t taking any antibiotics) which caused a flare, and I spent an entire week (Sunday afternoon to Sunday night) in the hospital. I got on prednisone again and took 2 months of medical leave from work (I am a middle school math teacher). I went back to work 3 weeks ago and took the last of the prednisone this week. But this past week I’ve had some blood at the end of BMs that have a lot in them. It’s not mixed in the stool, and I’ve developed some external hemorrhoids which are quite painful. I don’t think I’m flaring because I’m not feeling a whole lot of urgency (just once a day), but my intestines feel like they’re burning with bad cramps several times a day to the point that I have to bite my lip to keep from vomiting. I’ve switched to a saltines, rice, and yogurt diet to keep things mild, but it doesn’t seem to help.
In the meantime, I’ve been using Preparation H both internally and externally and also sitz baths in evenings if I can. The blood is gone for the most part, but the external hemorrhoids are getting bigger and still hurt really bad.
Is it normal to get hemorrhoids after a flare?
If so, how do you control them? I emailed my doctor about it and he said if the Prep H isn’t working then I may need to have surgery to get them drained. Does this get rid of them permanently? I’m worried because right now I don’t have any more medical leave. I can’t wait until summer because we are moving to Utah (from Denver) the day after my last day of school, and my health insurance only covers places in Denver. My new job’s medical insurance won’t start covering me until the start of the new school year. Plus I don’t have a GI in Utah. Anyone know of a good one in the Provo/Orem area by any chance at all? I’d even take Salt Lake City!
So does anyone have any advice or suggestions about this? All of this has made me start thinking that maybe surgery is worth it if I can get a j pouch instead of a bag. Are there certain requirements to meet for one or the other? It’s hard to get an appointment with my GI because I can’t take off work, and I can’t get to his office in time for after-school appointments with traffic. With my insurance, the only GI’s I can go to are ones that are all in the same building or further away.
Please, help!!!
Where I’d Like to be in 1 Year:
written by Tiffany
My name is Tiffany. I am a 25-year-old middle-school math teacher. I am Mormon (LDS), and recently married (December 2011). I like reading, hiking/camping, and spending time with my family.
