Just a Glimpse

This past year has been quite a journey, one that began 19 years ago with a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis. This was a diagnosis I did not share with many people and quite frankly I tried to ignore. I pushed it aside as much as I could; however, my UC did rear its ugly head on and off for many years causing me to take daily medication and occasional prolonged doses of prednisone. I required many scans, scopes, x-rays and various doctor appointments. In addition, it caused great anxiety for me to have this disease while working, having two children and trying to do my best to live a "normal" life without letting others know of my issues.

More recently I became very ill in May of 2017 and hospitalized shortly and remained unstable that Spring and Summer missing many family events. These included a trip to NYC that Mark and Izabella took, as well as, missing a trip to Oklahoma for Hayes' national soccer championship. These are just a very few of the impacts UC had on my life. By May of 2018 my health was failing again and I was showing more symptoms and new symptoms causing havoc to my body. I was unable to work and keep up with day to day living when finally, on May 18th (Hayes' 18th birthday) I was again checked into the hospital where I stayed for a week then released for three days only to return for emergency surgery which basically saved my life. The surgeon stated that I was about 24 hours away from being sepsis and my body was not strong enough to fight. During this time, I was also diagnosed with Crohn's disease (Perianal Crohn's with fistulation).

This surgery for an infected abscess caused from a fistula formed in my body did give me some relief; however, did not solve my problems. I spent most of last summer in bed and my house until spending a horrific day in the Emergency Department at Duke Hospital. This led to another surgery on my fistula and eventually the slow process of healing. It has been an extremely slow recovery with trial and error of medications, infusions and now injections. Thankfully, I seem to be in a more stable place with my health and hopefully heading into a time of remission with this chronic illness.

UC & Crohn's will always have a place in the chapters of my life; however, they will not be my entire story.