Hey fellow Crohnies,
I'm new, and I'll probably be pretty shy--however, I need advice and y'all seem friendly and helpful.
First to introduce myself. I'm a college student, was diagnosed with Crohn's as a freshman in high school. Prior to diagnosis, I was majorly underweight for years and had no idea why but wasn't really concerned cuz then I could eat pretty much anything I wanted
. Freshman year, had pain in my lower right side and was told it was a pulled muscle. Lived with an abscess in my gut for two months before they figured it out and tried to drain it repeatedly, eventually had open abdominal surgery to find an 8inch hole in my small intestine. And thus I have Crohns!
Sophomore year was the last year I really felt fantastic and actually healthy. Since, I'm almost always okay (no major symptoms, nothing to definitively point to), but never really actually feeling healthy--you know the feeling? Which is totally liveable; however, it is getting to the point now where I'll be generally okay for an extended period of time, then have an absolutely horrible weekend out of nowhere. Meh.
Here's the problem. The career I want to end up in (that I've dreamed of forever) is right around the corner...but it requires for a month or two at a time that I travel internationally often and generally to rural areas, working in physically strenuous conditions. It's not exactly ideal for someone with Crohns, especially since I seem to be getting worse. Is there anything that I'd be able to take or do for a couple of months in order to not give up on this? I mean, you're supposed to still be able to live with this and not have it completely alter your life, right?
I'm new, and I'll probably be pretty shy--however, I need advice and y'all seem friendly and helpful.
First to introduce myself. I'm a college student, was diagnosed with Crohn's as a freshman in high school. Prior to diagnosis, I was majorly underweight for years and had no idea why but wasn't really concerned cuz then I could eat pretty much anything I wanted
. Freshman year, had pain in my lower right side and was told it was a pulled muscle. Lived with an abscess in my gut for two months before they figured it out and tried to drain it repeatedly, eventually had open abdominal surgery to find an 8inch hole in my small intestine. And thus I have Crohns! Sophomore year was the last year I really felt fantastic and actually healthy. Since, I'm almost always okay (no major symptoms, nothing to definitively point to), but never really actually feeling healthy--you know the feeling? Which is totally liveable; however, it is getting to the point now where I'll be generally okay for an extended period of time, then have an absolutely horrible weekend out of nowhere. Meh.
Here's the problem. The career I want to end up in (that I've dreamed of forever) is right around the corner...but it requires for a month or two at a time that I travel internationally often and generally to rural areas, working in physically strenuous conditions. It's not exactly ideal for someone with Crohns, especially since I seem to be getting worse. Is there anything that I'd be able to take or do for a couple of months in order to not give up on this? I mean, you're supposed to still be able to live with this and not have it completely alter your life, right?
