Hello. My name is Ashley. I am 27 years old. I am married and have a 20 month old little girl. I am a full time student in a paralegal program. I was just diagnosed with Crohn's disease in October. It took me 3 emergency room visits and a 5 day hospital stay before the doctors figured it out. My symptoms were not presenting like "typical" Crohn's and my kidneys were shutting down so everyone was stumped. I consider myself lucky on most accounts when it comes to this disease because I know I could be in a lot worse condition but at the same time in all honesty, I feel like crap! My lower back hurts so bad I can't stand up without having something or someone to hold onto and if I try to get up too fast I end up on the floor in tears. I can't even pick up my daughter. And needless to say it makes attending classes interesting.
I have quickly realized that most people don't understand this disease or what it does to your body. My primary care doctor just keeps throwing pills at me and then ignoring me. She was nice enough to refer me to a GI specialist but they are booked out until March and she refuses to get me an emergency so I have to wait until then to the see someone who can truly help.
Then there's the fun task of trying to manage the pain in order to function. I hate being treated as if I am a drug seeker. Before my flare up and being diagnosed I never took narcotics. The doctor would write me prescriptions for narcotics and I would never get them. But now when I need them I am treated like scum and only given enough to last me 15 days at most and told to make it last all month.
I realize that there are probably others on this forum that have it a lot worse than I do and it makes me feel absolutely horrible for even complaining. I guess I am just looking for people to talk to that understand how it feels to be in pain constantly and have no one around who understands their disease. I feel completely alone and terrified. I am still trying to learn about my disease, how to cope with it, how to get the pain under control and how to get the doctors to work with me instead of being treated as though I am lying about the pain. I am sorry that this turned into a rant. I have had a lot of emotions bottled up for a bit and needed a way to let them out. Thanks for taking the time to read this. It means a lot to have someone to talk to. Have a wonderful day!
Ashley
I have quickly realized that most people don't understand this disease or what it does to your body. My primary care doctor just keeps throwing pills at me and then ignoring me. She was nice enough to refer me to a GI specialist but they are booked out until March and she refuses to get me an emergency so I have to wait until then to the see someone who can truly help.
Then there's the fun task of trying to manage the pain in order to function. I hate being treated as if I am a drug seeker. Before my flare up and being diagnosed I never took narcotics. The doctor would write me prescriptions for narcotics and I would never get them. But now when I need them I am treated like scum and only given enough to last me 15 days at most and told to make it last all month.
I realize that there are probably others on this forum that have it a lot worse than I do and it makes me feel absolutely horrible for even complaining. I guess I am just looking for people to talk to that understand how it feels to be in pain constantly and have no one around who understands their disease. I feel completely alone and terrified. I am still trying to learn about my disease, how to cope with it, how to get the pain under control and how to get the doctors to work with me instead of being treated as though I am lying about the pain. I am sorry that this turned into a rant. I have had a lot of emotions bottled up for a bit and needed a way to let them out. Thanks for taking the time to read this. It means a lot to have someone to talk to. Have a wonderful day!
Ashley