Crohn's is Crappy (literally)
- annasunnyg
- May 16, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: 28 minutes ago
Hey hey!
A huge part of me and that has affected my life is my Crohn's disease. I was diagnosed back in 2010, when I was a high school freshman.
Here's my story of diagnosis and experiences.
I first noticed something was up in December 2009 when we were having a taco night. I love taco night. But this particular night, I remember that I had like one, and that was it. Even my dad and sister asked if I was okay, that's all you're going to eat? I just wasn't hungry.
Within the month, I was constantly going to the bathroom, not hungry and not really eating, and throwing up what I did eat. I went to my pediatrician a few times. The first time, they thought it was just a stomach bug. They said give it a week or two to clear up.
A few weeks later, the same thing. The next time, I was asked if I was using laxatives to lose weight; I didn't even know what they were at this point, so of course that wasn't what was going on.
Finally after a few months we went to GI Care for Kids in Atlanta and my doctor Dr. Marcus was the BEST. He took step by step trying to figure out what was going on, and after my first colonoscopy I was officially diagnosed with Crohn's.
I was started on some other meds first, but since none of them worked I was eventually put on Remicade, an infusion I've been getting every 8 weeks for the past over 10 years. It's an immunosuppressant, so it lowers my immune system so it stops attacking my GI tract, but it also means I frequently get sick with illnesses.
The whole time of getting sick and diagnosed, I was in my second semester freshman year of high school. I will never forget my amazing teacher Mrs. Wooten, who was so completely understanding of me and my problems going through diagnosis, and thankfully trusted me enough to run to the restroom whenever I needed to, especially when the bathroom pass was gone.
A memory in this class was an interaction with this little jerk in the class. You know the type, small Napoleon complex, loudmouth and rude, in the popular crowd. He decided to loudly ask me why I used the bathroom so much. I remember sitting there in shock, and I will be forever grateful for my friend at the time Elizabeth, who roughly knew what was going on and jumped to my defense saying "Why is her going to the bathroom any of your business?!", and thankfully he let it go.
Or I was also accused at one point of being anorexic, because I was only bringing saltine crackers to munch on for snacks and lunch, since it was the only thing I could keep down. People are just too nosy and really need to leave others alone, you never know what someone is going through. But then again, it was high school.
Around my junior year, I was feeling better and started feeling like I needed to do something to help others. I started the "Alliance of Teens with Medical Conditions", or ATMC, in order to make a group for us to commiserate in and get support. I did a little infomercial on my school's morning announcements, and made a bunch of flyers.
I did have a small handful of people join, and it was really great! But it also really started the random quirk of mine where random people come up to me and tell me their life stories. I had many students and teachers tell me about things they were going through, or things their families and friends were going to, and I think that was when I really started realizing that my Crohn's diagnosis was a way to connect with people that helped them feel comfortable telling me what they were going through.
Crohn's also ended up being a way for me to meet all kinds of people, including life long friends. The summer after I was diagnosed, I got to go to Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis camp called Camp Oasis in Winder, GA. And it was absolutely the best time of my life. I was no longer the weird bathroom girl, we were all weird bathroom people. Camp food was notorious for making us constipated, so it was the weirdest yet best experience celebrating with everyone when one of the other campers had a good poop!
The second summer I was an LIT, or Leader in Training, and I got to help lead activities for younger girls in the younger cabin, and it was eye opening hearing the experiences from the kids half my age who were already diagnosed.
Camp Oasis is a huge core memory, and once I can be able to take time off for the week it happens I'll be able to go back as a counselor! I even recently went to the wedding of one of my Crohn's Camp friends, and it was so amazing and odd to see everyone as adults!
Ultimately, Crohn's has been a struggle especially with my weight, because I can't digest healthy foods. I make jokes that it's stuff I didn't want to eat in the first place, like spinach, kale, spicy things, etc. But it genuinely makes it super hard to eat healthily, or at least without constant gut pain. However I am mostly at peace with my disease, and am sometimes thankful for it because of the experiences it has given me and the people I have met and opportunities I have had because of it. Empathy for others is one of my greatest strengths, and I think part of developing it has been having a silent disease. You literally never know what someone might be going through.
All this to say, be kinder to others. They might be having the worst day of their life.
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