Not the most amazing gameplan

I had an appointment with my GI doctor this morning.

Nothing too exciting. He's upping my dose of the drug I've been taking since my first hospital experience (Immuran) from 100mg to 150mg/daily, and wants me to continue taking the Prednisone as the hospital doctor established (40mg/day for 5 days, 30mg/day for 5 days, and so on).

He said that he's discouraged by my flare on Wednesday night, but said that the Prednisone often takes some time to really get established in a person's body. So, maybe it's just taking me awhile to recover. I need to take it REALLY slowly. He said to introduce one solid meal a day (a small one), do that for a week, then move up to another meal. And I need to stop comparing this time to the last time in the hospital.

I see him in 2 weeks to see how it's going.

He said that we're running out of options and surgery may be necessary. We just need to take time and see what works. He said that if I do have to have surgery,
they would probably take out the biggest Crohn's-affected, strictured area, which may be the trouble spot (there are several infected areas that they found in my intestines). But we'll wait and see about that. I was able to voice my concerns and questions to this sometimes-difficult doctor, and that makes me glad.

I feel let down, sort of. I guess I wish he had met with his colleagues and come up with some brilliant plan for my future health. Hey, maybe he did meet with them, but it feels like there aren't a lot of options for me and I think that's just the nature of the disease. I need to get used to that (the wily nature of Crohn's) and accept small victories, small steps.

God is taking care of me. My body can handle this liquid diet (Boost, chicken broth, apple juice) really well, I am not losing much weight, I can handle the
Prednisone remarkably well (a real surprise), I have energy, and I am learning to take care of my stress. All blessings! We are learning to give thanks.

But I am so hungry for some real food.