I never planned to post in here. Digital shyness, perhaps. I've been a member for a little while and just being a part of this community has made me feel better. But now, after a week like this I figured it was time to share and upgrade my status from a mere lurker. So here's my story...
I was thirteen when it all began. Ahh, yes, I can still remember running to the bathroom and asking for a bathroom pass from my teachers every class period. I think half of my motivation to join the newspaper staff in high school was that laminated Press Pass that let me wander around the halls unquestioned at any time of the day. That's right, I found the loophole to acquiring a permanent Get Out of Class Free and Poop Card. If only I had been able to use my powers for good. After a few years of suffering (and my very first colonoscopy) I was diagnosed at 15 with ulcerative colitis. I tried Asacol for a bit and after it did nothing I settled for a scrip of Lomotil and dealt with my symptoms.
So I was a girl living with colitis. I knew all the best public restrooms (Target) and the worst foods to eat (ice cream). Pizza and coffee were a "sometimes, maybe" and popcorn could be torture.
As I reached my twenties I started experiencing bouts of constipation. Which is worse, I ask you- the diarrhea or the constipation? I'm definitely going with constipation. I've dealt with diarrhea for so long-- it was my safe comforting friend. At least I felt like I knew my body.
In 2007, when I was 26, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. No inflammation had been found anywhere except in the small bowel so the doctor's slapped the CD diagnosis on me and that's where I've been ever since. CD diagnosis and horrible constipation that leaves me with hemorrhoids. That's all there was to it. Until recently.
Have any of you ever had a food called "Divinity?" I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago. I'm a teacher and one of my students made me a batch as a present. You can't turn down a kid who stayed up baking for you all night. One sniff of this stuff and I knew I was going to be in trouble. But she just stood there staring at me with those big eyes... so I ate a piece. About a half an hour later I was paging the office to have someone watch my students so that I could make an emergency trip to the bathroom. My old friend, you guys know her, Diarrhea, still likes to show up every now and then.
I don't know how it works with you guys, but after a flare, I'll usually feel a little better. You know, relief. Until the gurgling starts up again. I never even got that relieved feeling. Just massive abdominal pain. It was in the lower right quadrant so after talking to my general practioner, I was advised to go to the ER. Two CT scans later and I was starting to worry that this was turning into the most expensive "gas" diagnosis ever. But the doctors persevered because my appendix was unusually prominent and finally determined---nothing. Well, I didn't have appendicitis but they're still not sure what it was.
I saw my GI doctor the next day (my first time with a new one!) and he got me in for a colonoscopy right away. Clean as a whistle. Don't you love when that happens? You're in severe pain... your symptoms are flaring and your colon looks so darn clean and pretty you start to think you're crazy. So he scheduled me for a small bowel follow through. Those aren't too bad for most of the population. Unless you have "sluggish" bowels like myself. That means that it takes FIVE glasses of barium and SIX hours on an X-ray table. I'm Cique du Soleil-ing it all over that freaking X-ray table and they STILL can't see my terminal ileum! It turns out that I have an unusually low hanging cecum that perfectly blocks my terminal ileum.
So now I'll get another CT scan specifically for my small bowel. That'll be sometime next week. We'll see.
That's my story.
Thank you for your humor and your understanding.
Thank you for reading.
I was thirteen when it all began. Ahh, yes, I can still remember running to the bathroom and asking for a bathroom pass from my teachers every class period. I think half of my motivation to join the newspaper staff in high school was that laminated Press Pass that let me wander around the halls unquestioned at any time of the day. That's right, I found the loophole to acquiring a permanent Get Out of Class Free and Poop Card. If only I had been able to use my powers for good. After a few years of suffering (and my very first colonoscopy) I was diagnosed at 15 with ulcerative colitis. I tried Asacol for a bit and after it did nothing I settled for a scrip of Lomotil and dealt with my symptoms.
So I was a girl living with colitis. I knew all the best public restrooms (Target) and the worst foods to eat (ice cream). Pizza and coffee were a "sometimes, maybe" and popcorn could be torture.
As I reached my twenties I started experiencing bouts of constipation. Which is worse, I ask you- the diarrhea or the constipation? I'm definitely going with constipation. I've dealt with diarrhea for so long-- it was my safe comforting friend. At least I felt like I knew my body.
In 2007, when I was 26, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. No inflammation had been found anywhere except in the small bowel so the doctor's slapped the CD diagnosis on me and that's where I've been ever since. CD diagnosis and horrible constipation that leaves me with hemorrhoids. That's all there was to it. Until recently.
Have any of you ever had a food called "Divinity?" I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago. I'm a teacher and one of my students made me a batch as a present. You can't turn down a kid who stayed up baking for you all night. One sniff of this stuff and I knew I was going to be in trouble. But she just stood there staring at me with those big eyes... so I ate a piece. About a half an hour later I was paging the office to have someone watch my students so that I could make an emergency trip to the bathroom. My old friend, you guys know her, Diarrhea, still likes to show up every now and then.
I don't know how it works with you guys, but after a flare, I'll usually feel a little better. You know, relief. Until the gurgling starts up again. I never even got that relieved feeling. Just massive abdominal pain. It was in the lower right quadrant so after talking to my general practioner, I was advised to go to the ER. Two CT scans later and I was starting to worry that this was turning into the most expensive "gas" diagnosis ever. But the doctors persevered because my appendix was unusually prominent and finally determined---nothing. Well, I didn't have appendicitis but they're still not sure what it was.
I saw my GI doctor the next day (my first time with a new one!) and he got me in for a colonoscopy right away. Clean as a whistle. Don't you love when that happens? You're in severe pain... your symptoms are flaring and your colon looks so darn clean and pretty you start to think you're crazy. So he scheduled me for a small bowel follow through. Those aren't too bad for most of the population. Unless you have "sluggish" bowels like myself. That means that it takes FIVE glasses of barium and SIX hours on an X-ray table. I'm Cique du Soleil-ing it all over that freaking X-ray table and they STILL can't see my terminal ileum! It turns out that I have an unusually low hanging cecum that perfectly blocks my terminal ileum.
So now I'll get another CT scan specifically for my small bowel. That'll be sometime next week. We'll see.
That's my story.
Thank you for your humor and your understanding.
Thank you for reading.
