Football has been my sons life, and like one story I just read, he to aspires to get to play after high school. During his junior year football season he began having bouts of diarrhea, but because this was football season, he didnt stop long enough to be concerned about or even tell us. At 17 you think your superman right? Well during a playoff game we noticed that in between downs he was stepping off and vomiting then going right back out and playing and as a mom I knew something wasnt right. During dinner a few days later he jumped up and ran to the bathroom. I later asked him how long this had been going on...he said about 12 weeks and 28 pounds later we took him to our towns urgent care and began to get some answers. Two days later he was hospitalized for test and possible surgery on his appendix. Thank God a friend of ours who happened to be a surgeon advised us to have a GI Dr. run more test first. Turns out it was Crohns Disease. He spent 16 days in the hospital, and came home on Asacol and steroids. Later after he didnt respond to either of these he was given Remicaid. After several doses and then every 8 weeks remission was achieved. He returned to school this past fall for his senior year and yes football. It was amazing to see him play like he had never missed a beat. He set 7 school records and got MVP of the offense. Just last week He signed a letter of intent to play football for a junior college. I know how painful this disease is and how devastating it can be to a child/athlete. I also know how hard it is for my son to even have the energy to get out of bed some days. This is a terrible disease. In January he began having signs of a flare up and another colonoscopy confirmed that indeed the Remicaid may not be working any more. He will graduate in May and hopefully he will get to go to college and play football this fall. I am praying for a cure for everyone who has this awful disease. God Bless.
Football has been my sons life, and like one story I just read, he to aspires to get to play after high school. During his junior year football season he began having bouts of diarrhea, but because this was football season, he didnt stop long enough to be concerned about or even tell us. At 17 you think your superman right? Well during a playoff game we noticed that in between downs he was stepping off and vomiting then going right back out and playing and as a mom I knew something wasnt right. During dinner a few days later he jumped up and ran to the bathroom. I later asked him how long this had been going on...he said about 12 weeks and 28 pounds later we took him to our towns urgent care and began to get some answers. Two days later he was hospitalized for test and possible surgery on his appendix. Thank God a friend of ours who happened to be a surgeon advised us to have a GI Dr. run more test first. Turns out it was Crohns Disease.
He spent 16 days in the hospital, and came home on Asacol and steroids. Later after he didnt respond to either of these he was given Remicaid. After several doses and then every 8 weeks remission was achieved. He returned to school this past fall for his senior year and yes football. It was amazing to see him play like he had never missed a beat. He set 7 school records and got MVP of the offense. Just last week He signed a letter of intent to play football for a junior college. I know how painful this disease is and how devastating it can be to a child/athlete. I also know how hard it is for my son to even have the energy to get out of bed some days. This is a terrible disease. In January he began having signs of a flare up and another colonoscopy confirmed that indeed the Remicaid may not be working any more. He will graduate in May and hopefully he will get to go to college and play football this fall. I am praying for a cure for everyone who has this awful disease. God Bless.
