My name is Amanda and I'm 28 years old. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in August of 2005 after about a 9 month battle with the illness, which at the time the doctors couldn't figure out what it was which was why it plagued me for so long without the diagnosis. I was out of high school (having graduated in June of 2004) and well into my 2nd semester of college when I started to become sick. Looking back on that now, I thank God for allowing me a problem free grade school experience without having to deal with all of this crap, literally and physically 
I became so sick that I had to drop out of college in the middle of my 2nd semester.
Doctor after doctor, month after month and medical test after medical test I found myself at Duke University Medical Center and at the end of my rope. Luckily for me I found a doctor, the 1st doctor in months that was actually concerned about me as a person and patient and was willing to believe in me and do whatever necessary to save my life. About a month after I 1st became sick, I was told that my problem was a faulty gall bladder full of gall stones, surgery was scheduled for it to be removed in February of 2005 and for a week there after I started to feel a lot better, but that didn't last long before my problems came back. After returning for follow-ups with the surgeon and him referring me to other doctors that all said they didn't know what was wrong (not that they were really trying to find out anyway) they all started saying I was crazy. They tried to say I wasn't really sick I just thought I was and when that didn't work they accused me of doing things to purposely make myself sick and said that my family too were putting it in my head.
For many months I had a hard time finding a doctor that would believe I was actually sick until I went to Duke. The doctor there was great and thorough, he didn't listen to the bull crap reports from the other doctors and did his own. I ended up having exploratory abdominal surgery, which is where they found that my appendix had grown abnormally long and rested on my small bowel causing it to collapse and block. They also discovered that my appendix had burst almost a month before and had been leaking toxins into my body all along. They say they don't know how I survived as long as I did, but that judging by the way my organs were failing, my body had started to consume itself since I couldn't eat anything for months that if I hadn't had the surgery when I did, I wouldn't have made it another week. Oh and let's not forget the kicker, I also had Crohn's Disease.
It's been 9 years now and 3 surgeries later that I've been dealing with this. I had another small bowel resection surgery in December of 2006 due to a bowel perforation and I had my most recent surgery in August of 2011 to remove a section of my small bowel that became strictured due to scar tissue from the dozens and dozens of flares I have had over the years. It's been a hard time and many hospital stays and medications later I have finally found a plan that works for me and I have the best GI doctor ever. I take Humira injections every 15 days and not long ago was just weaned off of Imuran. Though nothing is a guarantee and since there is no cure yet, sometimes things have to be tweaked but so far all is good.
Through this whole experience I have found out that my will to live is stronger than I ever thought possible. I have stronger self confidence and esteem, whereas before I worried about every little thing someone said to me or about me, now I just don't give a crap. What people say about me or think about me doesn't bother me one bit, I'm not afraid to speak my mind and I stand up for what I believe in (as I did before) but with a stronger conviction and I never let anyone sway me or talk me into or out of something I don't feel comfortable with. I have grown a stronger sense of humor, especially bathroom humor. There are a lot of people that are embarrassed by bodily functions like farting and bowel movements, but with me you better check that embarrassment at the door because there are no holds barred with me. Everyone farts and everyone takes dumps, some more so than others (me ) so there is no shame. My Uncle Sonny is my fart buddy he comes to me for the fart jokes and the bathroom humor, my Aunt says we are bad influences on each other, but she hasn't yet figured out who's worse. For me humor is a big part of how I cope with this disease, if I didn't find the humor in it and laugh, I would be crying and depressed all of the time. God has a plan for me, he has a plan for all of us, I don't yet know what that is, but in the mean time I'm gonna make the best out of a crappy situation.:rof:
I became so sick that I had to drop out of college in the middle of my 2nd semester.Doctor after doctor, month after month and medical test after medical test I found myself at Duke University Medical Center and at the end of my rope. Luckily for me I found a doctor, the 1st doctor in months that was actually concerned about me as a person and patient and was willing to believe in me and do whatever necessary to save my life. About a month after I 1st became sick, I was told that my problem was a faulty gall bladder full of gall stones, surgery was scheduled for it to be removed in February of 2005 and for a week there after I started to feel a lot better, but that didn't last long before my problems came back. After returning for follow-ups with the surgeon and him referring me to other doctors that all said they didn't know what was wrong (not that they were really trying to find out anyway) they all started saying I was crazy. They tried to say I wasn't really sick I just thought I was and when that didn't work they accused me of doing things to purposely make myself sick and said that my family too were putting it in my head.
For many months I had a hard time finding a doctor that would believe I was actually sick until I went to Duke. The doctor there was great and thorough, he didn't listen to the bull crap reports from the other doctors and did his own. I ended up having exploratory abdominal surgery, which is where they found that my appendix had grown abnormally long and rested on my small bowel causing it to collapse and block. They also discovered that my appendix had burst almost a month before and had been leaking toxins into my body all along. They say they don't know how I survived as long as I did, but that judging by the way my organs were failing, my body had started to consume itself since I couldn't eat anything for months that if I hadn't had the surgery when I did, I wouldn't have made it another week. Oh and let's not forget the kicker, I also had Crohn's Disease.
It's been 9 years now and 3 surgeries later that I've been dealing with this. I had another small bowel resection surgery in December of 2006 due to a bowel perforation and I had my most recent surgery in August of 2011 to remove a section of my small bowel that became strictured due to scar tissue from the dozens and dozens of flares I have had over the years. It's been a hard time and many hospital stays and medications later I have finally found a plan that works for me and I have the best GI doctor ever. I take Humira injections every 15 days and not long ago was just weaned off of Imuran. Though nothing is a guarantee and since there is no cure yet, sometimes things have to be tweaked but so far all is good.
Through this whole experience I have found out that my will to live is stronger than I ever thought possible. I have stronger self confidence and esteem, whereas before I worried about every little thing someone said to me or about me, now I just don't give a crap. What people say about me or think about me doesn't bother me one bit, I'm not afraid to speak my mind and I stand up for what I believe in (as I did before) but with a stronger conviction and I never let anyone sway me or talk me into or out of something I don't feel comfortable with. I have grown a stronger sense of humor, especially bathroom humor. There are a lot of people that are embarrassed by bodily functions like farting and bowel movements, but with me you better check that embarrassment at the door because there are no holds barred with me. Everyone farts and everyone takes dumps, some more so than others (me
) so there is no shame. My Uncle Sonny is my fart buddy he comes to me for the fart jokes and the bathroom humor, my Aunt says we are bad influences on each other, but she hasn't yet figured out who's worse. For me humor is a big part of how I cope with this disease, if I didn't find the humor in it and laugh, I would be crying and depressed all of the time. God has a plan for me, he has a plan for all of us, I don't yet know what that is, but in the mean time I'm gonna make the best out of a crappy situation.:rof:
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