Happy Winter! We had our first real taste of winter weather today - and I'm sitting here wishing it was spring already. I miss the warm summer weather! I do enjoy the Christmas season - there's something special about the Christmas movies, the Christmas spirit, and the atmosphere of the Holidays.
I figure I better tell you a little bit about my story - so you understand where "Journey of a Crohnie" comes from! I am someone who lives with Crohn's Disease. I have accepted that it's a part of my life, that it's just not going anywhere, and so now I do what I can to fundraise for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) and also bring awareness to the fact that Crohn's and Colitis are diseases that do exist - even though they are diseases that many do not talk about because they just don't understand them.
At the age of 19 I started to get sick, and it just kept getting worse - severe stomach pains, not being able to keep anything in me for very long, fear of going out because I knew I'd only end up sick by the end of the night, etc. After two years of "it could be this" or "it could be that" my gastroenterologist started to use the term "Crohn's Disease" as a result of a colonoscopy during my spring break my senior of college (Yeah, just what every senior in college wants to be doing on spring break). That was the first day that I really became familiar with the what Crohn's Disease was. I walked away that day with one thing going through my mind: there was no cure. It isn't usually life threatening but it's not really something you can ever completely get rid of. A Crohn's patient can go into remission for YEARS (I've even heard of decades of remission) but it's never really completely "cured." After the diagnosis came the next part - managing it - which I do through medication. I have a maintenance medication that I stay on and then I also have medications that I go on during "flare ups." So far, this form of managing my disease has worked.
I live with Crohn's but it doesn't control my life or who I am. It's simply a part of me - I do my best to not let it change plans or stop me from doing anything. There are times when I have what I call "Crohn's days" when I must listen to my body and slow things down. Being sick can exhaust me mentally and physically. Most of my close friends and family are familiar with the fact that there are times when I'm not 100% and they've been all really amazing about understanding and supporting me. It's a learning process for everyone involved - the Crohn's patient and the family/friends of the person living with the disease.
Since reading about the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America in my doctors office and the looking it up online I have found the courage and energy to look at Crohn's in a whole new light. It was kind of an "a-ha" moment where I decided I wouldn't hide the fact that I'm living with this from anyone anymore. Initially, I was embarrassed by my disease and after finding things like the Take Steps Be Heard for Crohn's and Colitis walk I have embraced it and worked on bringing awareness to these diseases. In 2010 and 2011 the team I created, the Crohn's Krushers, raised over $2,000 for CCFA. In 2012, not only are we taking part in the Take Steps Be Heard walk, but also two of us are going to travel to Las Vegas (hopefully!) to take part in the national Team Challenge 1/2 marathon for CCFA. We kicked off our 2012 fundraising this morning with a bake sale booth fundraiser. It was a success and we are now off to a great start with the fundraising!
I realize this was a REALLY LONG post but I thought it was important to tell you what my story is. I'm hoping that this will be a great way to follow the journey of someone who lives with Crohn's in their life. It won't be strictly about my Crohn's Disease - because that's not all there is to me - I have a lot going on in my life and I will for sure also being sharing other things along the way!
If you managed to read this all, thank you! I look forward to having a way to communicate what I'm feeling an thinking!
Happy Holidays!
