My name is Ann and I am a 45 year old female. I have had Chron's disease since 1974, yet it was not diagnosed until 1979. I started having excruciating stomach pains and constant diarrhea. I went to doctor after doctor and had all the tormenting tests done but the doctors could not find anything. I could not eat, my potassium level was very low, and I was dehydrated and malnourished. I was in and out of the hospital for 5 years. One doctor told me it was in my mind. After that I really gave up and had a near breakdown because I did not want to live like that. I could not hold down a job, because I was constantly running to the bathroom. I weighed 83 pounds. One day my stomach began to swell abnormally and I called my doctor ( Family Practitioner) and he told me to meet him in the emergency room the next morning. By morning I was throwing up green bile and could hardly stand to walk because the jar of walking hurt so badly. They x-rayed my stomach and as my doctor was looking at the x-rays when two surgeons walked in. They asked, " Who's x-ray"? My doctor told then he was going to insert an NG tube to relieve the gas. The surgeons told him that was not gas he was looking at, but Peritonitis (Gang-Green) and surgery was necessary immediately. They took me right to surgery. I was told the large and small bowel had grown together and there were holes all in them and the contents of my bowel was spilling out into the cavity of my body and Gang Green was present. They did not take anything out but patched all the holes with cat-gut. I was diagnosed with Chrons disease and given a 50-50 chance of living. By the GRACE OF GOD it made it. After 18 days in the hospital I went home. For 11 years after that I was great, I never knew anything was wrong with me until one day I started having the diarrhea again. My stomach got really sore on the right side, so sore it affected my right leg and I could not lift it. I then started seeing a Gastroenterologist. I was given prednisone on and off for several months but it would just get sore all over again when I was taken off the prednisone. Finally he sent me to a surgeon who located a mass on my right side. The surgeon put me in the hospital and for seven days he administered 100mg of prednisone every four hours in preparing me for surgery. This was my second surgery. He removed a mass which contained my appendix and took out the ileum and six of the small bowel and six inches of the large bowel. That was in 1995. A year later I started diarrhea and soreness in my stomach again. I also have constant burning in my upper stomach and cramping pains. He has tried the prednisone but has had no results. I am now taking an old Chemotherapy drug called (PURINETHOL 50mg). It is helping, I also take PREVACID for the burning in my stomach and a anti-depressant for my nerves. It is great to talk to those who can relate to what I am going through, because unless you have it, you can not possibly understand. From reading others stories on this web site, I have learned to be grateful, for although I am worse then some, I am so fortunate compared to others. When I feel sorry for myself I remind myself that I can live with this and so many people have illnesses for which there is no hope. My heart and prayers goes out to all of you. Ann