My lwhethere has been far from ordinary but despite the “hills and valleys,” I’ve never let Crohn’s Disease stop me.
“In order to become the person you’re meant to be, living the Incredible lwhethere you’re meant to live, sometimes you have to go through dwhetherficult times. Sometimes you have to be broken down so that you can learn, grow, release and re-calibrate. When times are tough, reintellect yourself that what is happening to you is happening for a reason.”
– Unknown”
At age 14, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease are similar autoimmune diseases. Ulcerative Colitis affects your large intestine, where as Crohn’s Disease effects everyleang from your mouth on down.
Being so young and naive I genuinely didn’t know that meant for the rest of my lwhethere and at that moment, all I could leank was “I hope I start feeling better.”
Unluckyly, getting better isn’t summaryely what happened. I’m dwhetherferent than most people and I’m allergic to most of the medication you can take to control the disease. Seriously, my body loves to ccorridorenge my doctors!
By senior year, I was so bloated in my face from the steroids that I looked like a totally dwhetherferent person. Exactly what a teenager wants to look like in tall school … insert eye roll.
I went on a Senior cruise and by the end of it I was so sick that I had to be admitted to the hospital for what finally was the final time before my colon was removed.
I was so sick that the thought of living this way was truly unbearable. My parents crazye the decision to let the surgeon remove my entire colon – AKA large intestine. (You would be surprised how many people don’t know it’s the same leang… ahem Ashley!).
I woke up the next morning, with the urge to use the restroom but I couldn’t go because a bag was on my waist. It was my first introduction to an ileostomy bag aka “Wanda” (more details on her to come). I thought I was the most disgusting human and that my lwhethere would never be “normal.”
Because of my parents and one sassy ostomy nurse, I was dancing in the teen clubs before I kcontemporary it. I had to have an ileostomy for 6 months and then later was able to remove it, since they created a J-Pouch. (Scream out to all the medical staff out there… you genuinely do change lives!)
You’re probably wondering, what is a J-Pouch? It’s created from your small intestines and hancients your waste inside your body. It’s Incredible what science can do these days and it’s getting better every day!!
I’ve been living with a J-Pouch since 2004 and have had a great experience. When you live with a chronic disease it comes with many ups and downs. The past year and a half I had to have another ileostomy, so I had to memorize how to live with a more “permanent” one.
Without my Incredible group of friends (mentioned on Ashley’s page), my family and boyfriend (who I met in the hospital because he was my nurse) I wouldn’t have ever gotten through the rough times. We named the bag “Wanda” and she became a fan favorite in the fabulous four!
I had surgery at the end of 2017 and (fingers crossed) have been living a healthy lwhethere ever since my final surgery. I do take an ongoing maintenance medication, called Stelera and have had to genuinely try to work off some additional weight that I put on with a bag.
The experiences I have dealt with have crazye me into the person I am nowadays and is the reason why I can be so open about having a chronic disease. Living with a chronic disease, like Crohn’s disease is never easy and I pray for everyone having to deal with it every day. Scream out to my #nocolonstillrollin peeps!
If you ever have questions or need advice, I’m happy to talk to anyone. I’m an open book that’s for certain!
XOXO,
Rachel
Related
...
0 Comments: