Category Archives: TPN

What’s the connection between Crohn’s Disease and TPN? – Part I

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Hello everyone, I hope ya’ll are doing well!  First, I would like to share something that I had seen since my last post.  In that post, I was talking about handling stress and how it affects my Crohn’s Disease.  Right after that post, an article came across my FB page saying how stress may worsen Crohn’s Disease.  Click here to read the article.  Secondly, my dear daughter with her sic sense of humor, decided to give me an early birthday present – a poop emoji pillow!  She knows me well – I love it!

Okay, back to the subject at hand..Another big part of my life is Total Parenteral Nutrition or TPN.  TPN is a way to receive a special form of food through a vein.  It also contains liquid nutrients such as carbohydrates (calories), proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. TPN can be administered in 10 hour or 12 hour increments.  I have to administer my TPN for 12 hours a night.  The needle can be placed into the stomach, small bowel or by catheter in the chest area.  It may be necessary to keep the catheter in the person’s body for weeks, months or even for life.  Most people keep theirs in for about a year.  I’ve had mine in the chest area since the beginning of May now.

The type of people who may need TPN are people who can’t absorb the proper nutrition or people who cannot tolerate solid food well.

Some examples of these types are:

  • People that have cancer of the digestive tract.  Chemotherapy may cause your bowels to absorb the nutrients inadequately.
  • People with Crohn’s Disease.  This disease may cause inadequate absorption or affect your ability to eat and digest food properly.
  • People with Short Bowel Syndrome.  There isn’t enough bowel to get that proper absorption.  You get the short bowel syndrome diagnoses through surgery or if it was present at birth.
  • Ischemic Bowel Disease.  This is when there is decreased blood flow to the bowel.
  • Abnormal bowel function.  This happens when food cannot move properly through the bowel.  Cancer treatments and surgical adhesions can cause this.
  • Uncontrolled Vomiting and Nausea.

(www.mayoclinic.org)

There are 7 types of TPN catheters.  These are:

  • Single, Double and Triple Lumen catheters (I have a Double Lumen catheter)
  • Hickman
  • Broviac
  • PICC line
  • Port

Any one of these catheters can administer the nutrition through the vein.

I’m actually going to call this educational portion of the post Part I.  I will continue telling you about my story on Part II of this TPN journey.  Reason being, I don’t want to bore you too much on the educational part because I would probably lose you when I write my “book” about what actually happened to me and boy is it a dandy!  Just remember what I told you earlier, nothing goes by the book with me.  If there is a chance of it happening, it will happen to me!  Remember to keep your head held high and take this disease one day at a time.  We will get through this together!

Chow for now!