Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Prayer for Doug

Doug had a colonoscopy this week.  It was supposed to take an hour which in Texas time meant 6.  It was good that he had it done because we found out he has Crohn's Disease.  They are going to do an upper GI, some more bloodwork and are waiting on some biopsies but there isn't really anything else that can cause what they found.  Please be praying for him as he needs to change his diet and is not too happy about it. 

Also most people who have Crohn's can have severe stomach pains and can have problems maintaining their weight.  So far Doug doesn't really have these symptoms so we are praying it stays that way. 

Crohn's is not life threatening.  No one in Doug's family has been diagnosed with this but they do believe Crohn's is  genetically linked.  It is passed down through the gene called the interleukin-23 (IL-23) receptor, but other environmental and immune system factors actually trigger it.

Changing your diet can help relieve the symptoms but it has been hard to figure out what exactly is bad because there are lots of contradicting reccomendations.  We do know for sure that he needs to have a low fiber diet and cannot have any seeds or nuts.  Some people with Crohn's can't have dairy either. 

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