My life with Crohn’s disease, Part 1

Fourteen years ago today was a day that changed my life forever. It was a day that no 13-year-old should ever have to experience (or anyone, for that matter). It was the day I was told that I have Crohn’s disease.
I have never talked much about those first days and months and what it was like dealing with the horrible symptoms of a digestive disease. Even today, it’s difficult for me to relive it. And because of that, I have blocked a lot of it out of my head. I’ve had to go back to my parents many times to ask them what things were like at that time.
But now, on the 14^th anniversary of my diagnosis, I think it’s time to talk about it. As I starting putting my story into words, I realized I have a lot to say. I have separated my story into a series of posts that I will tell over the coming days.

Now, back to the beginning. I first started having symptoms of Crohn’s disease when I was in the 6^th grade. I was at a small, private school at the time where 6^th grade was still considered elementary school. These years contain memories that I have blocked out and have never thought about since they happened. I do know my first issues consisted of bloody diarrhea and stomach pain. I remember having to go to the bathroom more frequently during this time. Our school’s campus was actually at a local church and most of our classrooms were in modular buildings, so bathrooms weren’t close by most of the time. I have this one vivid memory of making my way to the bathroom during recess and I didn’t quite make it. Thankfully, it was not bad enough to soak through to my pants, but my underwear was pretty messed up. I didn’t feel like I could go without wearing them, so I took about a half a roll of toilet paper and wrapped it around my underwear and put them back on. I went back to the playground after that and I must’ve told one of my friends that I wasn’t feeling good and she told my teacher. My teacher said something like, “Oh your stomach hurts? Was it diarrhea?” somewhat flippantly. I remember just staring at my shoes and shrugging and she must’ve realized that I really had, because she got much more serious after that.
My parents took me to our general doctor when all of these occurrences started happening, but the symptoms weren’t too dramatic just yet. Like I said, some diarrhea, but not all of the time, and some stomach pain, but it wasn’t unbearable. Our doctor suspected it may have been some sort of inflammatory bowel disease, but he wasn’t specialized enough to give a diagnosis. We went to a family friend who was a nutritionist before seeing a specialist. He recommended an all-natural diet, similar to the specific carbohydrate diet, but not quite as strict. My mom started making meals according to that diet and I started taking a bunch of probiotics and fish oil tablets, and at that time, my symptoms went away. For the next year I went on having very few issues and we thought the problem had been resolved. Little did we know…

The next time I remember having an issue was July of 1999. Let me tell you a little about who I was at that point in my life. I was 13 years old and it was the summer in between 7^th and 8^th grade. Outside of school, I spent my time dancing and doing gymnastics. I had been a part of a competitive dance company since 2^nd grade and it was my life. I usually spent at least 5 days a week either in dance rehearsal or at gymnastics class. I had great friends at both school and dance and felt as comfortable with my life as any kid in middle school does. For a 13-year-old, I was on top of the world. And it only got better that summer. My dance group attended a national competition in Myrtle Beach in July and our group not only won First Place Overall in our category, we also were asked to be a part of a special program that would air on TV. Seriously, on top of the world. But that’s the day things started to fall apart.

Read other posts in series.