I just found out that my stepson has Crohn's disease. He had surgery to fix the problem, but now he has to take medication. My question is, what happens if he stops taking his Crohn's medication?

— Kellie, Iowa

Unfortunately, surgery is not a cure for Crohn’s disease. Often, Crohn's disease symptoms recur following surgery and for this reason, people with Crohn's disease frequently need to undergo additional surgeries.

There are also several different types of surgery for Crohn's disease — your stepson may have had one that targeted only a specific area that had become diseased. Maintenance medication, like azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine (Azasan, Imuran), can minimize, but not eliminate, the need for additional Crohn's surgeries. If your stepson stops taking his medications, his risk of recurrence will return to a very high rate, so it's important that he continue to take his medication as prescribed.