God bless him. I am so very sorry he has had to suffer like this.

Crohn's is a terrible disease. I hope they can find a cure for it soon.

I know way too many people with it. I live in a rural area - and I know 8 people who have it. 2 of them are not even teenagers yet. It is just so hard on them....

About 5 minutes after I posted this, his mom called to tell me that they are admitting him to the hospital tomorrow. I hope this helps. His little body is just wasting away.

The toll it takes,especially on the young ones, is devastating. After living with Crohns for most of his young life, a 17 year old boy here committed suicide. He could not fathom facing a future with this disease. He was revolted by it.

I pray for the best for your young friend.

Leslie/KS

Ah Steph. That poor kid. It's so hard to believe with today's modern technology and modern medicine, they can't come up with something to help him.
I will keep him in my prayers.,

I'm so sad to hear about Brad. I can't imagine how he feels with all these problems at such a young age.

Steph, I'm glad you are bringing awareness to this disease and raising money for it. I know nothing about it except what you've explained in other posts and I think many others are not aware of what a terrible disease it is too.

I'll keep Brad in my prayers too. I hate when a disease takes hold of a young person, and ruins their childhood. So unfair.
Leslie

This is tough news. My sister suffers from this disease. The went 4 years with no diagnotis - only that it was probably psychosomatic. Since diagnosis she has only had one surgery, but not for Chrohn's. She had a tumor in her colon that turned out to be benign. I can't tell you the last time she went to the Dr. The last time, the Dr. was amazed at how well she had been doing. Since she doesn't have insurance, she relies on supplements, especially digestive enzymes. They seem to work - VERY WELL. Her DIL has chronic colitis and used the same meds my sister needs. She ended up taking some the last episode because she had run out of her supplements. Other than that, and watching her food intake, she has been doing OK. Chrohn's is a disease that will cause you to starve to death. But most people die from something else before that happens. Even when they eat the food does not get to where it should - the disease blocks the nutrients from getting to the body

I'm sending prayers and hugs for Brad, and you. I hate to see him suffer unnecesarily. If you need info, please, feel free to contact me. I'm sure my sister wouldn't mind talking to you either. She's so into maintaining a normal life through health and nutrition, I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing what helps her.

gneegirl

Prayers being sent his way.

Oh Steph...I'm so sorry to hear this. I'll sure keep him in my Prayers! Gosh...at 17yrs. old he should be looking forward to Proms,ball games and girlfriends! It just seems so d@mn unfair!

Prayers for Brad being said!

I have an Aunt who has Crohns disease and it hurts so much to see her suffer with this illness. I too hope a cure is found soon.

Deb

Steph, everything you said about your brother was identical to what my brother has gone through with Chrons. He is 28 yrs old now and he went through sooo many surgeries, the last one they did was a last ditch effort, they said if it didn't work, they didn't know what else they could do. He is much better now, at his sickest he was the same weight as Brad, now he weighs almost 300 lbs and joined a gym and has been working out. He had a wonderful doctor at the Cleveland Clinic. If you would like to email me through my page, I could give you his email address and your brother could email him. Maybe it would give him some hope that things really can get better, sometimes it just takes alot to find out what will work.

Thank you for the update Steph.

I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Steph...I have Crohns-and went undiagnosed for years...email me..there is *something* that might work for him that I know about

Prayers for Brad!

Donna (^_^)

For those of you that have the disease or have friends/family with it, have you noticed a pattern? Of course stress can agrivate it, but my sister has noticed that she starts having real problems at early Sprng and early Fall. Just curious because I've been trying to do research for her. Not trying to use any of you or your stories. We've just noticed this patten and am began to wonder - it seemed like it would hit around the same time someone with seasonal allergies would begin to have problems. For instance, the Spring one starts late Feb/early March (like now, but she's coming out of it),and ends sometime early - mid June.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack. Just thought..., since we were on topic. My sister does so well, and I wish there was a way to get it even more under control.

Hi gneegirl...mine doesn't appear to be seasonal,and I suffer from sever food allergies as well.

BUT what *has* helped me ,actually,mine is in remission right now,and has been for 5+ months, is a stomach medication.

I have/had waaay too much acid in me,always have had,and a simple medication,altho totally unknown to me,has worked.
That along with a different diet,a bowel medication,and an almost completely stress free life helps me.

Email me if you would like to know the meds.

I feel so badly for him Steph. My brother lives with Crohns. He had to have both hips replaced as a result. Arthritis is another side effect of Crohns. He is now on a drug (Humira)I think that's the name, that he must inject himself each week and it has helped him greatly although he is still thin and always will be I suspect.
I sure wish they'd find a cure for this.
Prayers for Brad.

Arthritis isnt a "side-effect" Mush...Arthritis is an auto-immune disorder..so is Crohns...there are all sorts of ailments that are linked to this disease,including arth....but there are tons of ppl with arthritis that do not have Crohns..its the auto immune thing that is the screw up and it appears to affect most ppl differently.

Ex H is doing the Enbrel for *severe* psoriasis,another AI disorder,which he as well is affected with arthritis'-3 of them,in his particular case....but he hasnt any bowel issues at all.
Humira is the new flavour of the month for ppl that have possibly tried Enbrel and it didnt work.
Myself,I have been offered the Humira as well,but will NOT be taking this serum,Crohns or no Crohns.

Very sad. I know someone with Crohns and it is awful. I hope something works for him soon, it seems he has suffered so much.

My niece has Crohns and has been a deaths door many times. Massive hemoraging, in constant pain, can't eat etc. If he is being advised to have the colostomy tell him to do it!! My niece was in denial also and wouldn't have the surgery...years later and oh so many surgeries she is now no longer a candidate as they have removed so much so much bowel etc. She has far too much scar tissue. If she has a major flare up no one knows what will happen. She has had several sessions of remicade and none helped. Years and years of various medications etc.,she is a walking skeleton, old long before her time and angry/bitter at the cards she has been dealt. She knows of others who had the colostomy and did so much better than she has done.
Your friends son is in my prayers.

Our Grandson has this as well...just had surgery a couple of weeks ago to manufacture a J-bag....we are prayerful that this will work well for him. He is 25 years old and has a new baby boy.
Steph we will be keeping Brad in our prayers as well.
Hugs to you and your younglets!
J

Steph, I am sorry to hear about Brad. That is so very sad! My 37 year old sister has been having stomach issues and has lost a lot of weight since September. She had a colonscopy last week and they said it's not Crohns, but probably a "mild case of IBS". I'm praying they have not misdiagnosed her. My ex-neighbor has had Crohns since she was 20 when she also had a colostomy. She's had 2 surgeries. I noticed this year she has become so thin, too.

I'm praying for Brad.

Sheryl

Oh Steph, I am so sorry to hear how things are going for Brad. We will keep him in our prayers. Kudos to you for doing the walk and raising awareness. I have a good friend with this horrible disease she has suffered for so many years because of it. I would love to be able to do a donation for your team. How would I go about doing that?

Hugs to you and the babies,

Laura

Sorry to hear that he's doing so bad. Is he getting TPN through the PICC? They're usually placed in the arm. They're probably going to let his bowels rest and "feed" him nutrients intravenously. I can't imagine a 17 year old having to go through all that, I'd be in denial too.

Thank you so much everyone!! I really appreciate everything everyone has said, especially the prayers and good thoughts.

Brad did pretty good in the hospital last night but had a rough start. They couldn't get his PICC line in (nothing is ever easy with this poor kid, seriously) and they had to try a couple times. He was able to sleep last night though. His mom stayed with him and he should go home today. Let's hope this nourishment helps him.

Laura..thank you so much. That is a really really nice gesture on your part. I appreciate that so much. I put a link to my website where you can donate if you so wish.

Here is a link that might be useful: Team Brad (that's what we call ourselves)

I am so sorry to hear of his illness. My son suffered his whole life from CVS (cyclic vomiting syndrome) and sometimes I wondered how he would ever make it as an adult but this is so much worse. My prayers are with Brad and all of you who are working to help him through this.

Glad to hear that Brad was able to get a little rest. I hope his mama did too. There is nothing like having a sick child and that helpless feeling. I just made a donation for your team. They have it set up easy! I see you are almost to your goal! I hope that you can exceed it and Brad will see the benefits of the research. It would be a blessing for him to just have a bit of normalcy that we tend to take for granted.

Laura, thank you sooo very much. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I am getting close to my goal, but I do hope to exceed it. I too hope Brad can at some point have some normalcy to his life. He's never had it....well, he did when he was a kid but he was too young to appreciate it.

Thank you again!!!