2016 was both exhilarating and excruciatingly hard. In March, I started dating one of my best friends. We're in our early 20's, and he is my first boyfriend. That is also the month he started showing Crohn's symptoms.
He was hospitalized for severe intestinal bleeding twice, and it was diagnosed as "a bad infection." He & his family had no insurance, so this was costly. Our first week dating, he was on heavy painkillers and antibiotics for the "bad infection," and he was in a lot of pain.
As our relationship progressed, so did the Crohn's. I went up and down, from the joy of being in love, to terror--when he'd bleed so much he nearly passed out. The worst was over the summer, when we went on a backpacking trip. While we were high in the mountains, on foot and hours from help, he had a massive bleed. He was too weak to walk. I set up camp and he ate and drank before falling asleep. I wondered if I would have to carry him off the mountain in the morning. We were lucky--he was well enough to hike out after sleep.
After summer, the bleeds and other symptoms got worse, and more frequent. He would be bedridden for weeks--in too much pain to move. His entire body broke out in an agonizing, inflamed rash for days at a time. He had to go to the bathroom constantly, and often he'd come out pale and sick from passing more blood. He couldn't find work--he was too ill. He lost massive amounts of weight... at 6'2, he was 115 pounds.
He couldn't go to the doctor or the ER, because he had no health insurance or job, and he was already in debt from the last visits. I tried to convince him to go--that I would pay, somehow. He refused. It was November, 7 months later, that his parents finally managed to find insurance to cover their family.
Once he was able to go to the doctor, it didn't take long for them to look for Crohn's. After a colonoscopy, an MRI, and blood tests, his doctor sent him immediately to the hospital. He was severely malnourished, and severely anemic with a hemoglobin of 3.5. He had permanent liver damage. The doctor says he was surprised my boyfriend could even stand up. He was diagnosed with severe Crohn's disease in December, while hospitalized.
Now, we are adapting to the diagnosis. His family doesn't have the money to afford foods that will not trigger flare ups, and he isn't well enough to get a job. The insurance is covering his medications, and visits to the hospital for regular iron infusions, but his situation is far from ideal. He applied for disability this week.
I try to help as much as I can--but I'm a poor college kid, so I don't have the means to do much. I am studying nutrition... I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Crohn's, so I can use my eventual degree to help. I want to marry this guy after I finish school. Right now, it's just nice to not be scared he's going to die all the time.
This has gotten long. It's cathartic to write all this out, though, in a place where people get what I'm talking about.
He was hospitalized for severe intestinal bleeding twice, and it was diagnosed as "a bad infection." He & his family had no insurance, so this was costly. Our first week dating, he was on heavy painkillers and antibiotics for the "bad infection," and he was in a lot of pain.
As our relationship progressed, so did the Crohn's. I went up and down, from the joy of being in love, to terror--when he'd bleed so much he nearly passed out. The worst was over the summer, when we went on a backpacking trip. While we were high in the mountains, on foot and hours from help, he had a massive bleed. He was too weak to walk. I set up camp and he ate and drank before falling asleep. I wondered if I would have to carry him off the mountain in the morning. We were lucky--he was well enough to hike out after sleep.
After summer, the bleeds and other symptoms got worse, and more frequent. He would be bedridden for weeks--in too much pain to move. His entire body broke out in an agonizing, inflamed rash for days at a time. He had to go to the bathroom constantly, and often he'd come out pale and sick from passing more blood. He couldn't find work--he was too ill. He lost massive amounts of weight... at 6'2, he was 115 pounds.
He couldn't go to the doctor or the ER, because he had no health insurance or job, and he was already in debt from the last visits. I tried to convince him to go--that I would pay, somehow. He refused. It was November, 7 months later, that his parents finally managed to find insurance to cover their family.
Once he was able to go to the doctor, it didn't take long for them to look for Crohn's. After a colonoscopy, an MRI, and blood tests, his doctor sent him immediately to the hospital. He was severely malnourished, and severely anemic with a hemoglobin of 3.5. He had permanent liver damage. The doctor says he was surprised my boyfriend could even stand up. He was diagnosed with severe Crohn's disease in December, while hospitalized.
Now, we are adapting to the diagnosis. His family doesn't have the money to afford foods that will not trigger flare ups, and he isn't well enough to get a job. The insurance is covering his medications, and visits to the hospital for regular iron infusions, but his situation is far from ideal. He applied for disability this week.
I try to help as much as I can--but I'm a poor college kid, so I don't have the means to do much. I am studying nutrition... I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Crohn's, so I can use my eventual degree to help. I want to marry this guy after I finish school. Right now, it's just nice to not be scared he's going to die all the time.
This has gotten long. It's cathartic to write all this out, though, in a place where people get what I'm talking about.
