Last week, during a blizzard, I trekked down to Mt. Sinai on the upper east side and met with my new gastro doctor. Of course, with my luck, she hadn't received any of my records from the clinic (they got sent to the wrong office) so we kind of had to go through my history a bit before getting down to business. Overall, I'm not sure how i feel about her approach to my case...i kind of feel like I'm cheating on dr. achkar and I'm not sure how i feel about it. Her approach to crohn's seems to be polar opposite of his and I'm not sure what to think. My treatments have always been conservative and her approach seems to be a bit more experimental. I think this may have something to do with the age difference, he's probably 10 years older than her. She was concerned as to why i wasn't put back on humira immediately following my surgery last may. Humira is an immuno suppressant drug used to treat inflammation in both RA patients as well as patients with crohn's disease. The long term effects are still unknown, it knocks down your immune system, and it, like most drugs for crohn's disease, can cause cancer. I don't understand why after a surgery that was intended to give me 5 healthy remission years the doctor would want me on it immediately without giving my body a chance to recover and just "live" drug free. I suppose i see both sides of the argument...As far as the next treatment option, she was not convinced on the cimzia, which is what dr. achkar and i decided we wanted to try. Im almost weened off the prednisone (I'm at 15 mg/day down from 40) and I'm starting to feel a difference. Im definitely having stomach pains again when i eat and having to go to the bathroom more, so I'm very ready to start whatever the next treatment is. I have another appointment with her next week during which time we will make a final decision. 

On a totally separate note, i wanted to vent/bitch a little bit about something that my other crohn's friends will be able to understand, especially those living in a city like new york. Ive noticed especially since I've been here that most public places don't have restrooms available. For someone like me, this is a major game changer and something i have to worry about before i go anywhere. If i know i won't have access to a restroom somewhere, i simply won't go. Many of the subway stations here seem to have restrooms but they are all gated off and closed. Lets face it, who would ever want to go to the bathroom in the subway, ew, but when your on a 45 minute train ride away from your house and you have a medical condition, what the hell else are you supposed to do. I cannot tell you the amount of times i have been somewhere and had to buy something simply to use the bathroom. Ive spent a fortune on stuff i don't need just because i needed to poop (excuse me). This is very frustrating for someone with a condition like mine and i hope that one day crohn's will get enough awareness for this to change. That is all

Until next time, C