Hi! My story starts in march 2011. My symptoms started with loss of appetite, diarrhea, and fatigue. I went to my doctor who referred me to a surgeon who examined me and said he was almost positive it was crohns. After that I was referred to a GI who I saw 2 weeks later. It was terrifying! I had never even heard of the disease before, and because it's an autoimmune disease I was scared I wouldn't be able to lead a normal life! When I met with the GI he told me he also thought I had crohns, but the only way to know for sure was to get a colonoscopy. So 3 weeks later I went in for my colonoscopy. I was told by everyone I talked to that I would be fine and back to myself in no time. After I woke up I was told by my doctor that it had taken me an unusually long time to wake up, but I seemed fine so he gave me my diagnosis and left. It turned out I have moderate to severe crohns, with 50 to 80 ulcers on my gut lining. After he had left and I was about to leave I started to get uncontrollably shaky, which was not a good sign, so I was taken to another room for x-rays and blood tests. After that I was told I had to stay the night which I had not planned on. I was told I still had an excessive amount of air in my stomach which was not normal. So long story short I was in the hospital for a week with no food, an ng tube, countless x- rays, and a ct scan. Luckily my parents were with me the whole time and I received lots of support from my siblings, family, and friends. When all the air was gone I got to go home ( finally)!!! So the next step was treatment. I had 1 dose of remicade while in the hospital, but the decision was made without a lot of thought. It turned out the side effects were to much for me, so I talked to my doctor about safer treatments and my parents want me to try the elemental diet. I will start it in About a week so any advice would be great! I know it will be hard with everyone around me eating, and being a teen I know it will be hard for my friends to understand.