just need to . . . not vent, really. just share my worry with people
who understand. you may remember nearly a year ago when my boyfriend
and now housemate, john, got very sick and it turned out to be crohns
colitis. he was put on prednisone in february. he got off pred in the
summer, immediately flared, and was put back on 40 mg. he finally got
off that a month ago and has been gradually going downhill, tho with a
lot of denial and looking for other causes ("it must be something i
ate") while i sit by knowing he's sinking into another flare (fatigue,
aching, cramping), but have to be careful what i say because he just
wasn't ready to own up to it. the bleeding started again last night, so
he spoke with his doc this morning and he's back on pred again. after
this year of pred, he has osteoporosis and i don't want to think about
what his other organs are suffering. in crohns, there are some "dmard"
equivalents, although i don't think they call them dmards. one is 6 MP,
which sounds a bit like mtx in its action and side effects. he was on
it years ago and hates it. was trying to avoid it. another is remicade,
my own beloved, if slowly failing, drug. he adamantly refuses to go on
it because of the immunosuppresant nature and the cost, which he fears
will make it harder for him to get insurance in the future. (an
unfortunate truism). but he needs something other than pred (and he
also takes a mild maintenance drug called asecol (sp?)), and i'm hoping
when he sees his doc, the doc will convince him it's time to get
serious.

i do research for him and he says, while he appreciates it, he really
just needs me to let him vent and not try to tell him what he should
do. <g>  does this sound familiar? i surely understand how he feels, so
i am now shutting up and just trying to be here for him.

well, i guess this was a vent after all. thanks for listening.

diane