The cost of Crohn’s can be measured in many ways, not all of them financial. However, the financial costs for Crohn’s health care are in some ways easier to evaluate, so let’s start with those. If you’re on Remicade, you will probably need eight intravenous treatments a year. Without insurance, the cost of that is ...
This is the fourth in a series of article dealing with Crohn’s and IBD’s. In previous articles we talked about what it means to have Crohn’s or an IBD, the emotional consequences of dealing with Crohn’s, and current treatments. If you or someone you know has IBS or other symptoms of an IBD, you should ...
One of the hardest things for anyone with Crohn’s disease to face is conveying to someone that the illness is a disability. There are two main reasons why. Unlike the employee who must travel from one cubicle to the next on crutches, a Crohn’s patient usually has no visible physical problem. It’s the invisible ones ...
I just turned 60. People usually describe me in terms of what I’ve accomplished in my career or my list of degrees. I seldom do. My greatest achievement is surviving Crohn’s disease, not drafting regulations for Congress to ponder. Crohn’s is one of two inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). Its cousin is ulcerative colitis. While removing ...
It took me about a month to realize why I was increasingly uncomfortable sitting at the computer. Since I had battled inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for decades, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise that I was, once again, suffering from perianal complications associated with Crohn’s disease. If there’s one aspect of this disorder that ...
The veterinarian evaluating our 10-year-old Cocker Spaniel at the emergency hospital looked furious. When he mentioned that the dog might have Crohn’s disease, I laughed and shook my head. It wasn’t funny, he interjected. He said his daughter had Crohn’s disease and had really suffered. I told him he didn’t understand, explaining that I also ...
