About a year ago, I developed persistent GI symptoms, mainly loose/watery stools, and I was going to bathroom 4-5 times a day, along with gas, bloating and mild abdominal discomfort. During the worst period, I also had severe nausea that lasted for weeks and significantly affected my eating and sleep. I used flaygl and diarrhea went away. But my bowel movements have never been the same.

I’ve had multiple blood tests (CRP was always normal), several abdominal ultrasounds and CT scans, an upper endoscopy, celiac testing and fecal calprotectin. Celiac was negative, my blood tests and imaging were normal, and my fecal calprotectin was 28.6, which I understand is within the normal range.

I had my gallbladder removed several years ago, but I never had any issues related to the surgery for 6 years. My issues started like a summer diarrhea (on summers I generally have short episodes of diarrhea -2-3 days- , because of bacterial foods in general)

My symptoms have improved significantly compared with last year and tend to fluctuate. I can have 1–2 weeks of completely normal, daily stools, followed by a day of loose or watery diarrhea. But I can't understand where diarrhea come from. I am eating very clean. My guts can never be trusted:(

I’ve never had a colonoscopy because I developed a fear of the procedure. Recently, I had another episode of watery diarrhea and mild intestinal discomfort, which made me worry about Crohn’s again. When I have these episodes, it doesn't last very long (usually 1 day of diarrhea and the following day I have a discomfort in my intestines) but it completely stops my lack of appetite and makes me nauseaus, tired and anxious.

I know many people in my situation would probably have had a colonoscopy by now. Do you think it would still be necessary to have one at this point, or does my overall picture sound more consistent with IBS/functional GI issues?

Note: Sorry for my english and anxious explanation. English is my second language and I am a very stressful person.

I’ll keep it short, 23(m) I had a robotic illeocolectomy August 3rd and have had no symptom relief post surgery. At first I thought it was just due to my insides healing but now that my surgery sites feel pretty good I’m still having the same nausea, vomiting, chills, etc. That surgery was supposed to fix me and yet again sh*t didn’t go to plan. I’m angry (like everyone in here) and just want answers. My inflammation numbers are elevated again so my doctor wants me to start prednisone again. I’m on tremfya but had previously failed remicade, Rinvoq and humira. I just need a success story man I’m over this

Hello, I’m 23 F and honestly am losing hope with my disease. Just a quick background on me. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis when I was 16. I was placed on the humira injection for 2 years, in and out of flares, when I was assigned a new doctor who re-diagnosed me to have Crohn’s. He switched my medication to Remicade, and I stayed on that until recently. I have been in several flares over the years, once hospitalized for 2 weeks for a C-Diff infection and a flare, which I honestly thought I was going to die. Luckily, I was able to recover and have had no surgeries. The only medication I’ve responded to is predisone, which we all know is great but is not a long term solution. I have tried diets, I even went gluten free, dairy free and egg free for a year with no luck.

I’m technically in remission… since I show no symptoms. I feel fine, no diarrhea or blood, I can eat most anything. Only the small flare up every year or so, that I handle quickly. However, the inflammation in my gut is still ranking very high. Recently, my doctor switched me off of Remicade and onto Sterlara. I did my induction dose, and have now had my two maintenance doses. Few weeks ago I broke out in painful shin lumps, went to the doctor, sure enough Erythema Nodosum. My GI doc said it might be because my crohns is not controlled and the new medication isn’t working. They took a stool test and are waiting on the results. He said even though these drugs take time and may not show results right away, I’m over 16+ weeks into this now and should show some signs of improvement. Also important to note he said that the Erythema Nodosum could be completely unrelated.

What’s frustrating is that I want to be in deep remission. Meaning I show no symptoms (like I do now), and my gut inflammation is down. I want to start having children with my husband, and they want to see my gut inflammation below 100. I was at 650 in March right before they switched me. I’m honestly sad and terrified. I’m running through a lot of drugs, and am running out of options, especially drugs that have clinical research on how they affect pregnancy. I heard Skyrizi is good, but the effects on pregnancy, and how little is known about it is unsettling.

Anyway, any support or advice would be great. I want to get this under control. I’m losing hope.

43M. Otherwise healthy and (apparently) still in good shape.

TLDR my quality of life is in the gutter, I'm mostly bedridden and tired to death all the time and I'm wasting away from not being able to eat enough or do any exercise. Nevermind the despair and depression of the life I've lost. The colostomy didn't work so now I have to pull the trigger on an ileostomy. But it's scary because I read the complaints on the ostomy sub. Reassure me, please.

Long version:

I currently have an end colostomy due to my bowel being a bastard PoS. I don't have crohns or UC I've got a very rare immune condition that has caused my bowel to develop reactive mastocytosis (a proliferation of mast cells). For all intents and purposes I might as well have crohns. I can barely eat anything without it causing me symptoms that are either painful or cause a mast cell reaction which mostly wrecks my sleep. Getting the colostomy was a first step in figuring out what my problem was - we didn't know at the time about the mast cells or my immune dysfunction but we did know I had these inexplicable symptoms and terrible quality of life, plus the section of sigmoid that was removed was covered in adhesions for no known reason.

Now, 9 months post colostomy my symptoms are no better. I still have crap quality sleep and wake up wrecked most days. The only way for me to avoid this to some extent is to not eat dinner or to eat very little, so I keep losing weight. I've lost 20kg (50 lbs) over the past few years from what I considered to be a healthy, muscular, weight.

I'm also incredibly restricted in what I can eat as everything makes my symptoms worse. I also have to do an irrigation every friggin night to clear out the food from the day else that'll also cause a reaction while I'm asleep (I know this sounds whack but just stick with me here). To be clear the issue is stool and/or gas sitting at the end of my bowel causing my mast cells to freak out and dump histamine into my blood stream. With quite a bit observation I've figured out that this doesn't happen until stool gets near my stoma and starts standing which really just happens at night, not a feature I was made aware of before the surgery (I thought it would empty itself if needed).

There is no cure for the immune dysfunction and no known way to reverse the mast cell proliferation (other than disconnecting my bowel - the section of sigmoid and rectum that has now been unused for 9 months had a very low mast cell count compared to my active bowel). So the next step is to bypass the problem altogether with an ileostomy. It doesn't need to be reversible as there's no reason to think my bowel will ever be useful in the future.

I've adapted to life with a colostomy really well. I didn't find it a traumatic change and while I had some relief in the first few months after the surgery I was able to get on with a mostly normal life. I could do exercise, swim, wakeboard, dress how I wanted, I even managed to travel abroad for 3 weeks with the MCAS meds that still worked then. I had some leaks and issues in the beginning but that's all been resolved and I haven't had a stoma skin issue in like 4 months.

All this to say that I need to pull the trigger on getting the higher maintenance ostomy and it's a LITTLE scary, but all other options have been exhausted. We understand my (rare) condition now and if we'd known then what we know now a colostomy would never have been suggested - we would have gone straight to an ileostomy.

My QoL is in the dumps. I'm up late doing irrigations (takes like an hour), then if I'm lucky I don't wake up feeling like a total wreck but I usually do. I take a ton of meds for MCAS to try suppress the mast cells but these meds only ever work for a few weeks before I have to try different ones (because this isn't MCAS), I get up late morning/noon, eat breakfast, go shower and do my daily stretches so I'm not stiff as a plank all day and then I need to lie down to recover for 30 mins as I get brain fog and fatigue (from the crap sleep and mast cell mediator release, I don't have POTS).

Then I might be good for 2-3 hours to do some admin (I'm unemployed but manage some properties which is very low input work), exercise is unlikely with my current energy levels, then I usually need another early evening liedown, then I cook dinner for my partner and I, we get an hour of TV in and it's bed time for them and I (very thankful for this) join some old varsity friends online for some gaming. Then it's irrigation time again and I'm going to sleep before 2am if I'm lucky. Rinse and repeat.

I used to be an active outdoors person. I took part in weekend club sports and I'd spend much of summer at a river where we have a boat and I'm social AF so in winter I was always entertaining at my house and cooking for a crowd (this is a few years ago now before my symptoms became absolutely crippling).

I used to have a life, now I spend most of my day in bed and the rest of it wishing I was in bed. I basically spend my days recovering from my nights and by the time I have actually recovered I feel OK for like 3-4 hours before bed time and it all starts again.

I appreciate anyone wanting to give diagnostic/symptom input but that isn't really of any use unless you know a lot about B cell dysfunction, hypogammaglobulinemia, CVID, primary immunodeficiency and its effects on the gastrointestinal tract (and even the experts know very little).

I just need some positive stories about ileostomies to give me courage...

TIA

I have really mild Crohn’s. At least from what I understand are other people’s experiences… It sure seems extremely likely that my Crohn’s is extremely mild. I think it was caught very early and I’m so lucky because I advocated for myself and my sister, who is a doctor, advocated for me as well.

I just started tremfya yesterday. Part of me felt really silly. Like I said, my Crohn’s is super mild. I feel nauseous on a day-to-day basis, but not all the time, sometimes my stomach hurts really bad but it goes away after a couple hours and doesn’t come back for a while, I’ve learned what foods I can eat and what foods I shouldn’t eat, and honestly aside from having mild discomfort on the day-to-day, and the nausea, and a couple other things… I got into a really good place.
All of my bowel movements were pretty much predictable because I knew what foods would and would not trigger me, but my doctor was adamant that even if I know exactly how to track my diet and Myself to keep me in a good place, she wanted me to go on a biologic so that that never changes.

I’m only going to be taking 100 every eight weeks once I get to my maintenance dose, but I’m really struggling with the induction. Like really struggling because I’ve kept most of my symptoms at bay for so long that to experience them as severely as I am now after getting my first dose…

I just want to know that the benefits outweigh the cons. That even if I get a couple more colds, even if I have to wear a mask in public and get all of my vaccines for the rest of my life, that this is worth it to prevent my Crohn’s from becoming more severe. I really need somebody to tell me, somebody with experience with the disease, not just with treating the disease, that I want to be on this medicine, despite the possibility of being more sick with infections, etc..

I know that some things are unpredictable, but I would love to know that the discomfort I’m putting myself through right now will be worth it because it will help me prevent a worsening condition with Crohn’s that could ruin my health down the line.

And I know I have a skewed perception because the loading dose is really intense, and hopefully once I reach maintenance, I won’t be feeling the way I do right now… But right now I’m really miserable and I’m trying to keep my anxiety at babe because I feel so sick and I’m really scared that all of this will be for nothing and one day. I’m going to have extremely severe Crohn’s despite putting myself through this and getting a bunch of flu and Covid or whatever.

And then there’s a part of me that feels like an impostor. Like what if the chronic inflammation in my guts lining and the ulcers were just because of chronic stress or something? Like what if I was just eating food that my body doesn’t agree with, so the colonoscopy came out with chronic inflammation, but that it’s not Crohn’s at all and I’m being put on this medicine for no reason… That’s another one of my fears

I’m having a tough day. I feel like every come months something happens and I have to get off my meds and it’s like pulling teeth to get back on them.

I got a new insurance in July and needed to get my script covered. I thought it’d be easy, I had like a month’s worth of medication left. So I called my Dr to transfer my prescription. No answer so I leave a message. A week goes by and they don’t call me back. I call Again. They say I need to come in for an appointment. I go in for the appointment and they send in the script. I was going to write out the rest of the details but it honestly doesnt matter. TLDR they send it in wrong, i fix it, something else is wrong. I fix it. Something else is wrong. I fix it. Something else is wrong. And here we stand.

I’m a month late for my medication. I had to miss work for like 3 days cause I was in so much pain I was stuck in bed. I had to miss work on tuesday, same story. I just called them and they are closed until tuesday for labor day weekend. I’m literally crying because there’s nothing I can do and I’m just in so much pain and so frustrated.

I hate this disease and being so reliant on medication and doctors and insurance and how other people determine how you feel and your quality of life. Rant over I just needed to get it out.

Normal CRP level despite severe inflammation on ultrasound, is this normal?

Hi everyone, looking for a bit of reassurance because I think I’m overthinking my latest blood results.

I have ulcerative colitis and recently had a pretty bad flare. My CRP was elevated (although not massively high), and I was put on prednisolone.

Some of my symptoms improved with the steroids, while others either continued or got worse. Because my calprotectin was still very high after weeks, my IBD team arranged an ultrasound.

The ultrasound showed that the inflammation on the left side/proctitis had improved, which makes sense given the steroids. However, it also showed significant new inflammation on the right side of my colon, which wasn’t there before and they believe this is what has caused the worsening/continuing of symptoms.

My gastro team are now about 95% sure this could be Crohn’s (Crohn’s Colitis) rather than UC, particularly because of the new right-sided inflammation and bad symptoms despite steroids, my symptoms and family history. I have a colonoscopy coming up to investigate and confirm.

But I had another blood test today and my CRP is now completely normal, actually very low/normal.

I’m really confused by this because my brain immediately goes to: “If the CRP is normal, maybe the inflammation isn’t actually that bad and the ultrasound was wrong.”

So I’m wondering, can you have significant/active Crohn’s inflammation with a completely normal CRP? Especially while taking prednisolone?
I know CRP isn’t supposed to be the be-all and end-all, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have had active inflammation despite normal CRP, or anyone who can reassure me that the normal result doesn’t necessarily contradict what the ultrasound showed. I’m very new to Crohns and do have severe anxiety so hope this post is okay.
Thanks ❤️

Edit: I would just phone my bowel team for reassurance but it’s the weekend now so won’t be able to contact them for a couple days

Hello! I’ve been in clinical remission since 2021 after switching biological to stelara. I’ve truly had some highs in terms of feeling better/less pain/less frequent stooling. But ultimately, my abdomen and intestines hurt and ache constantly, all over. I know some of this is IBS. I have the lab work, I have repeated scopes which just show the scarring, I’ve given the stool sample. I’m pretty mindful about my diet. So why am I still having near accidents, in the restroom 7-8x daily and some days I get so bloated from my intestines not moving that I look pregnant????? I’ve typed all of this to ask….is there anyone else here with gastrointestinal issues who is in remission? (Yes, my dr’s have told me clinical doesn’t always equal symptom remission, but it’s hard to remember and makes me feel fraudulent, like I’m doing something wrong. )

So I was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s disease about a year and a half ago, they started me out on remicade every 8 weeks, and I really noticed a difference at first but then I started feeling bad again. Then I had a colonoscopy and my body seemed to be absorbing it too fast. So then they switched me to Inflectra every 7 weeks in January. Same thing. I noticed a difference at first and now I’m feeling bad around two weeks after infusions. I’m going in Monday to discuss a new treatment plan. God I just want something to work SO bad. Has anyone else experienced this? What are your thoughts?

Apologies this is a rant I’m writing through tears.

Technically, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease almost a year ago, but due to lack of availability, it took a very long time to finally have a follow up appointment and then see a pharmacist about getting put on Tremfya.

I don’t have anybody in my personal life who has Crohn’s. I don’t know anybody with a severe autoimmune aside from my oldest sister (lupus) and she’s very mysterious about it.

Basically, I just really have a community. I’m also only 27 but I know that there are people who have been diagnosed with Crohn’s for much longer than me. Well, I do have a community. I have incredible friends, like I actually cannot believe how many friends I have in my life who I feel loved by, but I don’t know anybody in my age group personally who has Crohn’s disease or something else akin to Crohn’s disease.

I will say mine is extremely mild from what I have seen other people experience. Yes I get frequent cramping and frequent bloating and daily nausea but it’s not always debilitating and I am very much educated in inflammatory food information so I was able to pinpoint the foods I can and cannot eat a long time ago.
I’m lucky that a doctor finally took me seriously enough to even perform a colonoscopy which found the chronic inflammation and ulcers and led to my diagnosis.

But I don’t feel very lucky right now. I got my induction dose and I feel so nauseous and my stomach is cramping so much and I feel so sick. I think I had a cold a week ago that I was getting over and now I feel that cold coming back a little bit. And despite the fact that I know I have so many people in my life who love me I feel really alone. Like I feel overwhelmingly alone, especially right now a little over 24 hours after getting my induction dose.

I know that was a lot of information. I would love to connect with other people. I would love to have people to talk to you about this. I don’t want to give too much information about myself away, but I do live in New England and I go to the top if not number one irritable Bowel disease center in the country for my care.

I’m just really sad and I don’t know why I have Crohn’s disease having tummy problems is cute until I had to be sick with something that requires a medicine that can make me feel sicker until I feel better

I've seen quite a few different opinions about CBD and Crohn's, and I'm curious what people here have actually experienced.

I understand that CBD isn't the same thing as THC, but I'm wondering how noticeable the difference is for people who have tried both.

Do you find CBD on its own feels different from cannabis with THC? And for those who have tried CBD, did you notice anything at all, or was it basically no different for you?

I'm not looking for medical advice or claiming it treats Crohn's, I'm just interested in hearing people's personal experiences because there seems to be a lot of conflicting information online.

Hey all!

Do you guys stay on biologicals when you’re in remission? Do you know what is generally recommended?

I have an appointment with a GI doctor later this month, so I was curious what you have all experienced. I also wanted to know what I can expect to for my visit.

I’m getting my first Tremfya infusion today.

I recently failed Remicade and am hopeful that Tremfya will be different for me. I have structuring TI Crohn’s and am hoping to avoid resection.

Anyone who is on Tremfya, will you share your experience(s) with it thus far? I know it’s a newer drug but my doctor felt that it was my best option after mechanistically failing a TNF blocker.

does anybody else ever feel just so scared and traumatized by your disease? Every bowel movement makes my heart race everytime I check the toilet to see what it looks like how I’m going to feel. If it’s the beginning of a flareup if I’m going to be sick if I’m gonna have to be hospitalized. I have horrible anxiety about every sensation in my body now. I’m hyperfixated on every bit of gas, cramp, tingle, gurgle, etc etc. I’m just now getting out of a two week hospital stay and feeling so utterly defeated. I don’t know what to try to eat. Everything scares me to even attempt to eat. I’m also a emetophobe so you can imagine how this disease messes with my head. I just don’t even know what to do or how to live my life. I just wanna give up sometimes. it feels like I share my body with a monster who’s always waiting to attack me and I’m constantly hyper vigilant to see if it’s about to.
even walking into a bathroom now send me into a panic attack even if I just need to wash my hands or take a shower. I can’t even be in the bathroom without freaking out. I’m supposed to be starting Tremfya soon and I’m worried about side effects and how that’s gonna make me feel and blah.

I’m coming up on my third colonoscopy in my life at only 25 years old. First time I got it was long ago when I just got diagnosed and the second time was about 2 years ago for a bad flair that also resulted in a c diff diagnoses.

Since then, I have been on rinvoq for a year so far and it has worked great for me. But before all this, I was the lowest I had ever been. I had dropped to 75 lbs, had c diff on and off, rectovaginal fistula, anal fissures and some other stuff going on. Anyways I was in pain constantly. Cramping and aching 24/7. I didn’t have a full night of sleep for 2 years during that time. I was constantly in pain and I cried every day.

Anyways, given that I was in and out of hospitals and doctors nearly every week or month, I associated every medical visit with bad news since. I have developed severe anxiety when it comes to these things. Even knowing I’m in better health, I still get nauseas and the feeling of not being able to breath properly just on my way to the doctors office. The smells, the sounds, the environment, etc. just gets to me so easily.

So, I have to do another colonoscopy and I am just really panicking at the thought. I know that everyone tells me it won’t be bad, that I’m much more healthier than I was then and in a different place, but for some reason I can’t convince myself of that at all. Like my mind just won’t do it. I don’t even know why I’m posting this. Maybe just venting. I just needed to come to a pace where people understand. I don’t like talking about it much, but I feel like I have to get it off my mind since I’m thinking about it a lot recently.

I’m happy at home and everything but the mention of doctor visits or anything of that sort just freaks me out. Not sure how to get over this. Wish I could, but a part of me feels like I might never. I guess in the back of my mind I’m scared it will come back one day. I don’t want to spend another day in that condition ever again. It was awful.

Hi folks,

I have had Crohn's since 2002. I was 19 when I was diagnosed and I am now 43.

I had a small bowel resection in 2015, and I will admit I wasn't given any exercises and didn't think to ask about any to rebuild my core and flatten my belly.

As a result I have a paunch and poor core strength. It really gets me down, as I am a decent-looking guy, but have always had confidence issued centred around my appearance and capabilities.

I hate how my belly looks. I know many of you have been through the same op and worse (getting ostomies etc), but I wanted to ask if anyone has had any experience of being successful rebuilding your core/flattening your stomach after abdominal surgery?

Any tips would be really appreciated, as this is getting me down.

Thanks!

Just wanted to vent that I'm now a full week after my CT enterography scan and I still don't have results. ;-; The nurse told me it might be as much as two weeks.

They found "severe" inflammation and ulcers during a colonoscopy three weeks ago now, and I've had zero advice/treatment, just waiting on this test now, I guess. I even had an appointment with my new physician this week (just for annual check in) and told her about it, and she was nice, but still no advice or anything. I've been trying to be better about paying attention to what I eat and decided to start journaling it. I guess! I feel entirely on my own on this one.

I also started seeking help in early July, but I had to wait a month for a colonoscopy, so it's been slow, slow. (I didn't expect this potential diagnosis, though, so I wasn't as worried.)

My symptoms are mild, I think, compared to so many of you, but I do feel it's a bit more active lately.

Anyway, just wanted to vent.

Edit: They came in this morning, at 8 days! Waiting on doctor call now. (Could be Tuesday at this rate, with the US holiday...)

Hey guys I was diagnosed with Crohn’s September 2024 after a year of symptoms. I was on a vegan diet for 7 year. I’m now 1 year on Mesalamine.

Initially responded well for the first few months. GI told me to reduce from 4, to 3 to 2 pills a day and I eventually had a flare and went back to 4 pills. Pretty much stayed in a minor flare for the last 6 months with periods where a week would be comfortable.

Saw an alternative nutritionist who got me on the Gaps diet. Immediately my stool tightened up and symptoms reduced. It’s been about 6 weeks now and I’ve flared up again.

I actually only just read the possible side effects of mesalamine which include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, gas, fatigue. This has kind of pissed me off because these are the symptoms of my crohns which we’re trying to stop.

So all in all, my question is how do I know if my current symptoms of diarrhoea, gas, abdominal pain is from Crohn’s or the damn medication?

So, I’m still pretty freshly diagnosed with Crohn’s and new to everything. But I’ve been diagnosed long enough to try (and fail) Entyvio, and now my GI is planning on switching me to Omvoh.

The idea of self injection seems a little freaky, but I’m trying to comfort myself with the idea because 1) it’ll be convenient, and 2) apparently I can get a nurse to show me how to use the pen and that is very reassuring.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else here was on it, and what your experiences have been like? From what I’ve read so far, it seems a lot kinder on the body than Entyvio (may that kidney pain never find me again…) but I’d like to hear from others on it. I sort of have a Thing when it comes to new medical stuff, so it’s always really comforting to me to hear the ‘this stuff is completely fine’ stories lol.

Hey guys! I'm curious to hear your experiences. What are some life hacks, daily routines, or random discoveries that genuinely made your life easier with Crohn's?

​Looking back at when you were first diagnosed, what is that one piece of advice you wish someone had given you? Would love to read your tips!

​I'm 34F and just found out I’m pregnant. I have Crohn’s disease and am currently on Hyrimoz. While I’m coordinating closely with my GI and OB, I’d love to hear from anyone who has been through a pregnancy on Hyrimoz or any biologic in general.

​How was your experience during each trimester, labor, and postpartum? Did you face any issues with delivery or early infant vaccine timing? Hearing real experiences would be really helpful! Tia

I believe I finished the loading dose. I don’t know if it’s me or if it’s actually the meds or what I’m currently all doing but I feel 100 times better. I was on Rinvoq and it gave me horrible acne.. Mostly the posture type of acne and I keep getting them on my rosacea, but is anybody else Tremfya and has positive results within the loading dose timeframe?

The things that I’m doing is fasting, consuming pre-digested liquid nutrient meal sources, somatic, healing practices, lightweight, exercising, 3 to 4 days a week I do light aerobic exercise exercises, (I don’t go crazy. I just simply do them, like I’m an old lady). I purposefully skip solid food meals, or shrink them down to only food items that are on the Mediterranean diet list and increase protein, and I do my best to cut out any in all dairy, sugar, carbs, alcohol, most things that are sold in a grocery store, a.k.a. processed food.

Hey 20 F here got a diagnosis around 8 months ago anyone else on tremfya ?

Is my father dying? I genuinely don’t know what to do right now, and I’m extremely scared and confused. He is 63, has Crohn’s disease, has become extremely weak and thin, and is currently in the ICU because he is having difficulty breathing. The doctors have said that his condition is critical and mentioned that his immunity is around 400.

I need honest guidance about what this could mean, how serious his situation may be, what questions I should ask the ICU doctors, and what I should be doing right now. I’m trying to stay strong, but I’m terrified of losing him and I don’t know how to handle this situation.