I had planned on spending alot of time in the garage this summer doing the second restoration on my 68 vert, but unfortunately my 18 year old daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in May. Crohn's are ulcers in the colon that can spread to other parts of the body. She was hospitalized twice, once for 6 days and several weeks later relapsed and spent 6 days in ICU and a total of 2 weeks in the hospital this time. She went into septic shock and due to very low blood pressure they had difficulty inserting an IV into her veins so she could receive 5 units of blood. Not a pleasant sight for a parent watching several technicians holding your screaming daughter while they are frantically try to insert the IV into her arms, legs and neck. There is no history of this in our families and my daughter has never been sick a day in her life so this came as quite a shock. I would not wish this disease on anyone. They do not know what causes it and as of today there is no cure, however she is now responding well to treatments which will require an IV every 8 weeks. Needless to say I lost interest in the restoration so my Camaro sits with the front end sheet metal removed and engine out and lots of parts waiting to be restored. I just got the engine back from the machine shop so I am hoping this will spark my interest again. The good news is my daughter is doing well and her spirits are high and she started the first year of college and has gone back to work. This is not an ideal way for a teenager to spend her first summer as a high school graduate. Hopefully I will be more active on the TC site as I love this hobby and enjoy the people.

My ex will be walking to raise money for Crohn's research so I thought I would post the link if anyone was interested in contributing to this cause.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread

Mike Sheppard-TC Member

http://www.active.com/donate/MI09fairwest/MaryAnnBurke

I feel for ya, Mike. My 16 y o niece was diagnosed with Chron's early this year. She's been in the hospital a couple times, most recently just 2 weeks ago. she had a flareup in school, some pretty serious bleeding, ended up in the hospital for a couple days. The docs were gonna get serious with some kinda 'scopies to find and stop the bleeding, I guess she took one look at what they were goinna stick up her *ss and poof, no more bleeding!

I don't mean to make light of her's, or your daughter's situation. This really happened, not quite a week ago. Sarah's home now, eating normally (for her) and back in school.

Diet plays a huge part in mamaging crohns. It all seems pretty unpredictable, too. My brother and sister in law have been going nuts for the last 8 months. Sarah, thank goodness, is making the best of it, and not letting it get her down too much.

Up until last January, no one in my family had ever even heard of it.

My sympathies to you both. You are in our prayers...

Sorry to hear about your daughter, Mike. I wondered why I hadn't heard from you in a while. The car will be there when you're ready, take care of your daughter.

I will send a check out when I get home,our thoughts are with you.

Best of luck.

Mike...

Keep your spirits up and things will get better fast. Its a good sign that the medication is helping. My brothers wife has had Crohn's for 15 years now and has been involved in testing of new meds. Her spirit is amazing and she will not let it get the best of her. My other sister in law (wifes sister) has it for a year now and is doing great. With the advances in todays medicine, your daughter will be just fine :thumbsup:

Kev

Mike my heart goes out to your daughter, I have family and friends that suffer from Crohn's and it does get in the way of their lives at times. Pass on my wishes for a great college experience for her and the strength to meet the Crohns head on.

I'll stick this thread and see if that helps people see it...

Mike I am so sorry to hear this it is the worst to have something wrong with your child I hope every thing go's OK.

Best wishes for you and your family. My brother has lived with Crohn's now for over 20 years. He endured surgery after it was first diagnosed but has since lived a normal life. As evidenced by his 5 kids. Anyways, let her know that there is hope. She will probably just have to make some adjustments.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you and the family.

Same here mike,my god bless your daughter. just try to keep the faith,my prayers go with you.

My heart goes out to your families.

My sister has lived with Crohn's for 20 years now after being diagnosed at 22. Hers spread to her small intestine and it has been ugly and debilitating but for the most part she has lead a normal life with regular treatment.

I support the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation myself;

http://www.ccfa.org/

As the headline on their site attests David Garrard of the Jax Jags suffers from Crohns. The disease is a lot more prevalent than most people realize, and unfortunately as Mike says, the origin is really unknown and a cure has still not been found.

Mike, I know exactly how you feel; my 14 year old son was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitus when he was 10 years old. He spent 17 days straight in the hospital; I didn't think that things would ever be the same for us. I know what you mean about losing interest in the Camaro; when one of your kids is sick, it really lets the wind out of your sails.

My son went through the IV treatments as well (Remicade), and did very well with them. He has to take pills everyday, but he hasn't had any major problems since his diagnosis after they got things under control. Just keep praying and keep your spirits up (and hers, which will also help her physically). I hope and pray the best for you and your daughter, Ron.

Mike, I know how you feel all too well! Hang in there she will pull through it. I am 23 years old and got diagnosed with Chrohn's almost 2 years ago now. But have been fighting it since my first year of university (I was 18). It is possible to get it under control and have it go into recession (i think that's what they called it when it was having no affect on me) but 2 months ago it came back twice as hard and I continue to fight it as well. I've tried lots of pills and have had lots of tests so if you have any questions pm me I'll do the best I can and it will only be based on my experience.

I hope your daughter is doing well. I hope you and your family can sit down and figure out what causes flare ups and pain and how you can move forward as a family helping her get back on her feet fully. I know it is different for every person but I did this with my family and now we are all on the same page instead of me just telling them I can't eat right now causing them to ask me why and what's wrong and so on..

I continue to play competitive sports, work on my 68, work on my step dads 72 SS and work full time. Never let it get the best of you and keep your spirits high. I'm sure she'll go through some changes as I did after I realized I had a "disease" and they are tough times but if you give her the support she'll need everything will work out.

I would love to see some pictures of the new motor and phase your car is because mine is in pieces lol and I need something to look forward to!

Take care,

Best wishes for your daughter.

My Buddy HH and I went to our Buddy Charlie's bed and stood over him and PRAYED!

Charlie's doing fine now!

pdq67

hello mike, very sorry to hear this - i can't even think about my daughter or son being
in this shape, but i know it's got to hurt. but god is with her, we don't know
why thing's happen. we will all know one day. we will keep her in our prayer's
god bless her and your family.

tim

Hang in there, Mike.

There has been a lot of achievement/positive research in Chron's... and there is much hope for the future. Remember that stress and diet play a maj part in this ailment.

Give the Cam a break for now, then assess things in a while. Try to keep things on the positive if you can.

My prayers to her and the fam.

capt

Thoughts and prayers are with you, Mike. An old friend of mine since elementary school had this same disease when she turned 18. She is now 45 and other than a few flare ups, she has been able to have children and raise a family. Good luck to you, wish I lived closer so I could help out with your car. Keith

Mike ,I will add your daughter to our families prayer's ,My Dad has Colitus ,and is in the Hospital for the last week it flaired up bad,and has colun cancer ,so its been hard ,I have my Mom with us as she can't stay alone she is battling Alzhimers... I need help too (we pray for each other TC brother) I have been on Strike ,so that has helped with having the time off to take care of her daily and go see him daily also,we hope to have him back home Monday.I wish the best for your daughter .Happy Motoring soon for us all.

Guys, thanks for all your kind thoughts and prayers. Your responses are greatly appreciated and I have even shared them with my wife. Going through something like this really changes your outlook on life. Eventually I will get the car back on the road but I am in no hurry (more time to buy parts on ebay). I am looking forward to being able to see my daughter in the drivers seat one day going down the road with the top down.

Thanks again for your support and understanding it is greatly appreciated!!!

Mike Sheppard

Mike , my sympathies for your daughter I wish her well.
As we speak my 22 year old daughter is in the hospital they suspect her of having Chrons but there is a chance it could be something else , there will be more tests tomorrow. So right now I kind of know how you are feeling , I wish I could have it in her place so she doesn't have to suffer.
God bless your daughter.

Mike , My family and I are praying for you and your family. It is not easy to deal with on of your children being so ill. (it's not right) We light candles for family members that are sick in one way or another. We have just lite a candle for you and your family.

My Buddy HH and I went to our Buddy Charlie's bed and stood over him and PRAYED!

Charlie's doing fine now!

pdq67

2 or more gathered...very cool. I hope and pray that these folks will get better soon, and enjoy happy and healthy times ahead. One thing I have learned after 20 years of being a firefighter and emergency medical responder, if you are not getting results, find someone else who can get them. Sometimes a change in treatment modes can work wonders for a patients outcome. The care provider must take a positive role in the patients treatment and overall management.

Peace-

Robert

I was diagnosed with crohns this summer. They gave me Sulfasalazin 500mg, three times daily, entocort as a flair up tool, i have had no more problems after. My diet sucks as i like to eat anything all the time. You might want to mention the entocort to her doc. It has been great to me. My prayers will be with ya...

My beast freinds twin brother(17 years old) was just diognosed with it. He has to take like 12 pills every day! Her was in the hospital for i think it was 4 or 5 days then he had to go back every other day.

Hi Mike,

My sympathies for your daughter.

My mom had crohns. She dealt with from the early 20's on, so I know what you are going through.

Mike ,I will add your daughter to our families prayer's ,My Dad has Colitus ,and is in the Hospital for the last week it flaired up bad,and has colin cancer ,so its been hard ,I have my Mom with us as she can't stay alone she is battling Alzhimers... I need help too (we pray for each other TC brother) I have been on Strike ,so that has helped with having the time off to take care of her daily and go see him daily also,we hope to have him back home Monday.I wish the best for your daughter .Happy Motoring soon for us all.

Life changing oh yah...it is Mike ,hope your Daughter is doing well . Dads been home with me as his main caregiver,since Oct 17th (he was in a facility for almost a week ,nice place ,but he wanted me to bring him home (to my house) ,I was on strike since Sept 3 ,and now on a leave from work,as he (they) needs 24 hr care . When he had his last couple days in the hosp. the Dr. est. was weeks to a month ,and he is doing better now than a month ago ,but only prob short lived as his colin cancer is blocking his colin and as it grows will block his colin completely and the doc's say few days from there (his heart is not strong enough to go through surgery to remove) so was not an option, so its just making him comfurtable now,I havn't got a clue of what to do with Mom when he goes. Alzhimers folks are a hand full, so I don't have a lot of time or (relaxing time anyway) to do some things, but thats ok ..They didn't have a lot of time on there hands 53 yrs ago eather Take Care to All...Happy Motoring :)

God made foods to help keep people healthy. Links that may be of interest or helpful:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Eat-Anti-inflammatory-Foods-To-Reduce-Crohns-Disease-Symptoms&id=763635
http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2007/08/anti-inflammato.html
http://www.crohns-disease-and-stress.com/diet.html
http://www.natural-crohns-disease-relief.com/crohnsdisease.html?hop=health12

I've had it for 30 years myself. That's about 40 colonoscopies for anyone keeping score :-)

Good news is that I'm an example of someone for whom a combination of Asacol and Nicotine (not that I advocate it) have it under control, so there are happy endings out there! Mesalamine helped me a lot while Sulfasalazine (cheaper and usually the first line of defense) did not, so be sure to be willing and proactive about trying different meds if one approach is not successful.

Mike I can eco Rons68 message, my son has crohns as well and after the IV's and the learning how to live with it when he was 23, he just gace us our first grand child. He is now 36 and has to watch things but he is living a good life and has a great future in front of him, I'm sure you daughter will have the same results. Best of luck to you and yours. No one is promised tomorrow but if you have today you're ahead of the curve.

Best regards

My Prayers are with you.

My 18 year old son has it. Has been on Asacol for a while, is starting to get sick again. Looks like we're going to be trying Remicade next. There is a very interesting trial going on at Penn State:

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00715117?term=crohns+smith&rank=2

There is some hope for the future, an early LDN trial had a 67% remission rate. Here's some info on the LDN idea:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222320

I'm still trying to get a local doctor interested in giving it a go.

My 18 year old son has it. Has been on Asacol for a while, is starting to get sick again. Looks like we're going to be trying Remicade next. There is a very interesting trial going on at Penn State:

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00715117?term=crohns+smith&rank=2

There is some hope for the future, an early LDN trial had a 67% remission rate. Here's some info on the LDN idea:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222320

I'm still trying to get a local doctor interested in giving it a go.

My daughter seems to be responding to the Remicade treatment but I have no idea what people do that do not have good health insurance coverage as the Remicade cost 5-7K per treatment and she has been going once a month and hopefully will be every other month soon

I have a sister-in-law that was diagnosed 12+ years ago. She had to go through some treatments but is doing great now. You would never know there was a problem. I think she got a handle on what caused her flare-ups--namely spicy foods and/or stress. Hang in there--with all of the research and meds available, she will do fine. Good luck--and God Bless

Dan
1969 LeMans Blue BB AC

Were praying for your daughter and family. I am going to a fundraiser for my niece Sunday,she's a young single mother full of cancer.I'ts really hard to see such young ones just getting started with their lives and have to face these issues.Once you turn your life over to Jesus,He will assume your burdens.Keep the faith and we'll keep praying.

Years ago, at work, H/H and I visited our Buddy Charlie in his hospital room and prayed over him holding hands and Charlie is fine now that I know of.

H/H is in Maryland recently at another job and Charlie moved and is working in Energy or whatever still w/ the state but I have to say that prayer works.

Praise GOD in the highest!

pdq67

Years ago, at work, H/H and I visited our Buddy Charlie in his hospital room and prayed over him holding hands and Charlie is fine now that I know of.

H/H is in Maryland recently at another job and Charlie moved and is working in Energy or whatever still w/ the state but I have to say that prayer works.

Praise GOD in the highest!

pdq67

Amen Paul, I have not given a update on Dad ,suppose I will, he too went from almost death to doing wonderful for now ,as he still has colon cancer but has not effected him yet.
It was the horriable ulserated colites that the Doctors only gave him weeks to a month last October,Sulfasalazine and Predinsone,are his daily meds to keep it in Check. God bless to all,Happy Motoring

Hope things are going well Mike... :yes:

Mike she is in our prayers hope things are looking better for your daughter.