Steps closer to diagnosis.

I had my colonoscopy this morning. It went a little differently than I expected. They said it wouldn't hurt. They lied. It hurt! I wondered why and then Doc came in to see me and gave me the bad news, after apologizing to me for having to go through all that discomfort. He said "it looks like you have Crohn's disease." I was shocked, "Really?" Yes. He said there was a lot of inflammation and ulcers in my intestines, he took biopsies and wants me to come back within the next few days for a small bowel x-ray and then back again after that to talk to him about all of the results and what to do next. He told me before the procedure that my blood work had all come back fine, no evidence of Celiac and that was a very good sign. He seemed enthusiastic. But after the procedure he seemed discouraged and concerned. I've been so focused on IBS and Celiac that I hadn't even looked at Crohn's. I knew generally what it was but not in depth. The first thing I did when I got home was get to researching. Looks like I would've been better off with a Celiac diagnosis. Crohn's is rough and not easily fixed. It's not as simple as going on a gluten-free diet. I read about medication, surgery, flare-ups, remissions, it's overwhelming.

I have read the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle that spells out the Specific Carb Diet for essentially curing Crohn's, Colitis, and other IBD's. I was encouraged that so many people had found relief from this grain free, lactose free, low sugar diet. Then today I read on the Crohn's Foundation website that the SCD has no scientific backing and is not particularly recommended, however a gluten-free diet might help. They say that while nutrition is important, it's not the root cause of the bowel inflammation. I don't want to be on medication. I don't even take advil or tylenol for pain or headaches. I am a firm believer that this can be controlled by diet and I will talk to my Doc about it. I just hope I don't need any surgery. I have an appointment for the small bowel x-ray on Tuesday morning, but then I couldn't get in to see him again until May 23rd. I'm hoping maybe he'll have a cancellation in the meantime so I can get in sooner. I really want to deal with this right away. I am going to go ahead with the gluten-free diet for now anyway. It can't do any harm at this point. I feel better that I'm close to a final diagnosis, but the thought of Crohn's disease scares me. Wednesday afternoon I had stabbing pains worse than I've ever felt, and if that's what I'm looking at in the future... well all I can say is I really hope I can get control of this and not suffer for the rest of my life. I'm confident that I can control this and be healthy. I'm so glad I found my Doc and he's been amazing about being proactive and helping me find answers.

I will keep you posted on how things go over the next few weeks. Thanks for all the support!