>> Amanda: When I first met Dr. Lazarev,
I was at probably my lowest point.
>> She was, I think, 96 pounds
and they had gotten her up to 96 pounds.
>> At that point, I was,
maybe just turned 30.
The Crohn's disease had
just taken over my body.
So it was really hard, I mean
there were so many things
that I couldn't eat and had to avoid.
I wasn't absorbing nutrients from my food
and anything that I was
able to tolerate, food-wise,
would literally go straight through me.
>> Crohn's is a chronic
inflammatory condition
that can affect any part of
the gastrointestinal tract.
It really can be very
devastating for patients
and many of these patients are very young.
>> Dr. Lazarev did some tests,
had to give me some pretty hard results.
>> He suggested an ileostomy because then
there were no medicines
on the market to help her.
They had tried basically all of them.
>> See, there's not quite a
lot of enteroids here, right?
Not typically--
>> Many of our patients,
you know, unfortunately do
have surgical issues as well,
so it means we work very closely
with a number of specialties.
Here at Hopkins, we have
a multi-disciplinary
inflammatory bowel disease center
and almost all the clinicians
are also very steeped
in research 'cause we're always
trying to move the needle.
We are at the forefront
in terms of providing
latest and greatest
therapies for patients,
some of which are investigational,
which holds great
promise for our patients.
>> Woman: You have some nice ones up here.
>> From the time that I
had my ileostomy surgery,
everyone at Hopkins was great.
Every aspect of my health was improving.
>> Lazarev told us about a
medicine that was on the market
for clinical trials and everything.
We became hopeful and we
started to ask questions like,
could we have children on this
and things like that and he told us yes.
>> Started me on Entyvio, which is
an infusion that I get every eight weeks.
It has done wonders.
I actually had a scope test done
shortly after starting the new medicine.
I told Dr. Lazarev, I said, those aren't
my pictures, like, it's too healthy.
(knocking)
>> So I've been on that
medicine every since.
It actually allowed me to get pregnant.
We have a little baby girl,
she'll actually be three on Tuesday.
Really, it was fortunate that
I had the care at Hopkins.
Because of my GI concerns, I
actually delivered at Hopkins.
>> Mark: I think our continuity
of care is really important.
I think knowing a patient for
upwards of almost a decade,
you really grow with them.
>> Some of the best doctors
in the world work at Hopkins
and we truly see that when we go there.
When nobody else had any
answers, they had answers.
>> It was incredible.
Because of the help
that I had, the surgery,
the medicine, and just the ongoing care,
I've never been as healthy as I am now.
It really gave me my life back.
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