“The right doctors and the right game plan” help teen with IBD

First grade is a time rich in reading, writing and recess. But for Kimberlee Roy, first grade was far from a jovial time.
At the tender age of 6, Kimberlee experienced the sudden onset of excruciating stomach pain and bouts of bleeding and diarrhea. “It got so bad that when I went to the bathroom, I would be yelling and crying because there was so much pain in my stomach,” recalls Kimberlee, now 16. “It was the worst pain I ever felt.”
In need of medical care, Kimberlee was admitted to a hospital near her hometown in western Massachusetts. After multiple tests and procedures and a three-week stay, Kimberlee was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a condition in which one or more parts of the intestinal tract become inflamed.
“I thought it was a stomach bug that would go away,” Kimberlee says. “Unfortunately, it didn’t.”
During the December hospitalization, she was prescribed anti-inflammatory medications and underwent a blood transfusion and a series of infusions of the intravenous drug Remicade.
She finally left the hospital two days before Christmas.
“Kimberlee’s doctor gave us the green light to go home for the holidays once he knew Kim was stable and we could handle all the medications, machinery and IV equipment that she needed,” says Tammy Roy, Kimberlee’s mother.
Throughout the next year, Kimberlee managed her illness until a severe allergic reaction to a medication stopped her in her tracks.
“Aft...

Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - December 1, 2014 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Maureen McCarthy Tags: All posts Source Type: news