Hello, my name is Neil. I am writing about my Crohns disease experiences, from when i was diagnosed as a 15 year old in high school. I just want other people to know about some of my problems even though at the moment my crohns disease is actually going ok. First thing that happened for me was constant diarrhea, I learnt the location of every single public toilet in Brisbane just so i could have a life. That was the thing for me, because i was so young when i was diagnosed i wanted to be like everyone else and kind of did the opposite of the advice my family were giving me. A few years later I was very ill and had lost alot of weight(I weighed 35kg on one hospital visit) and was still trying to live my life as much as possible. At this point i nearly died and had to get emergency surgery and have an ileostomy put in. I was immedietly better, I remember how different i felt, not being in constant pain. I think a bag and stoma are also difficult in their own way. I was finding that i had some body image problems and can totally understand how some girls get annorexic because of the pressure to look a certain way. My stoma and ileostomy are now permanent. I'm feeling good, I weigh almost 80kgs which is normal for someone my height and age, I have not had to be hospitalised for ages so i'm being optimistic about things continueing the same way. I hope to make friends with people in the same situation and be a part of the community.