Plum Crazy

I just spent a miserable four days with what turned out to be a flare-up of my Crohn's Disease. It first struck Friday afternoon, occasional cramps that became a steady low-grade pain. The pain lasted through Monday night, worsening, until I took some Predisone that my doctor prescribed. The Predisone is used to reduce the inflammation that causes the pain (either directly or indirectly; I'm not sure which, as the pain could be a result of a narrowing of the intestinal wall that causes all sorts of stuff, gas included, to become trapped). Within an hour I was feeling better and now I feel fine, except for some residual effects that I will not describe of the contrast used for the CAT scan. Now part of the duration is my fault. I had been in the emergency room Saturday to ascertain whether I had an obstruction. They were in the process of performing a CAT scan when they told me I needed a second bottle of contrast, which was not going down as easily as the first. I refused and checked myself out against medical advice. Otherwise, this could have been diagnosed Saturday night and potentially treated then as well. Oh well, the lesson's been learned, and I feel better.