Hi there! I am preparing for a four-month study abroad program through my college that will begin on August 31, 2017. We will go to six countries -- Italy, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, India, Thailand, and China (with layovers in places like Greece and Bahrain!) -- and I am SO excited. I am a Chronie and feel very fortunate to be healthy enough to travel in this capacity; before my diagnosis last August, I was very sick and could never have done it.
But as I am preparing to fly, I am also finding that the sheer number of OTC and Rx meds that I have to take along are weighing me down, literally and figuratively. Literally-speaking, they take up almost ALL of my carry-on, a 32L backpack. Figuratively, they all just make me feel really... resentful, I think, of Crohn's, and also kind of angry and embarrassed. I am bringing almost 1400 Pentasa capsules (I take 12 every day), plus Zofran, Prednisone, Immodium, Cipro, a probiotic, vitamin D/calcium supplements, Tums, Pepto Bismol tablets, Zantac, Pedialite packets, Tylenol, etc. (can you believe it?!) IN ADDITION to things like motion-sickness medication, cold medication, and fiber powder/Dulcolax (just in case...). My wonder-woman of a mother insisted that she, rather than I, spend the $230 on those OTC meds this afternoon AND pay the copay for my Prednisone, which makes me feel even guiltier. UGH. I am worried that airport security will be a hassle with so much medication, I am scared that my professor will wonder whether I should really be going on this trip, and I am terrified that in the end something Crohn's-related will prove them right.
And mostly, I just keep thinking back to Steven Chbosky, to when he said, "So this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."
But as I am preparing to fly, I am also finding that the sheer number of OTC and Rx meds that I have to take along are weighing me down, literally and figuratively. Literally-speaking, they take up almost ALL of my carry-on, a 32L backpack. Figuratively, they all just make me feel really... resentful, I think, of Crohn's, and also kind of angry and embarrassed. I am bringing almost 1400 Pentasa capsules (I take 12 every day), plus Zofran, Prednisone, Immodium, Cipro, a probiotic, vitamin D/calcium supplements, Tums, Pepto Bismol tablets, Zantac, Pedialite packets, Tylenol, etc. (can you believe it?!) IN ADDITION to things like motion-sickness medication, cold medication, and fiber powder/Dulcolax (just in case...). My wonder-woman of a mother insisted that she, rather than I, spend the $230 on those OTC meds this afternoon AND pay the copay for my Prednisone, which makes me feel even guiltier. UGH. I am worried that airport security will be a hassle with so much medication, I am scared that my professor will wonder whether I should really be going on this trip, and I am terrified that in the end something Crohn's-related will prove them right.
And mostly, I just keep thinking back to Steven Chbosky, to when he said, "So this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."
