Dear Frank
Hope everything settles down soon and life can get back to normal.
The microbiome story is truly fascinating in all forms of disease not just inflammatory bowel disease but sadly medicine is still not at the stage to utilize it. You will have read about the faecal transplant stories - alas some people are magically cured, most have had no improvement but worryingly some people have got much sicker. The technology is still very early. The biologic agents seem to work well? Hopefully you will improve soon enough to get off the cortisone.
At least you can keep your technology with you. Stuff gets stolen all the time in my hospital - imagine stealing from someone's sick bed....
Best wishes and quick recovery,
JJ