A day in the life of Doad

I HATE CROHN'S. I am one of the tens of thousands (if not more) whom are stuck dealing with this day-to-day. For those who are un-informed, crohn's disease causes problems in the digestive tract. It can be located anywhere from the stomach to the bowels. Typical suffers have to deal with constant feelings of being bloated and having to go to the restroom MANY times a day. There's a lot more to it, but I won't elaborate all that here. Suffice to say google crohn's and you'll come across a ton of informational resources and holistic cures. So far I have tried acai berry juice, aloe pills & pro-biotics. As well as entirely removing certain foods & additives from my diet. The holistic stuff has failed entirely for me, but I have found that by cutting out MSG's (preservatives) and switching to low fiber diet that my digestion has improved. But sadly my intestinal tract isn't so agreeable. My case is concentrated on my large intestines, specifically the last turn of my large intestines. What should be the diameter of a quarter is closer to a sharpie, thanks to a build up of scar tissue. This SUCKS, it hurts on & off at irregular intervals and makes it difficult to absorb nutrients. Thus I am constantly fighting anemia and have to overdose on vitamins so that I am able to get the bare minimum absorbed. As well the medicines I take to keep it from getting worse are immuno-suppressants so I have to be careful about any infection because my body has a difficult time dealing with them. On the psychological side the constant restroom breaks and pain, make depression a very common partner. I deal with it daily.

Now that I am done whining, this disease has caused me to change my outlook on life. I'm lucky enough to have some wonderful health care professionals looking out for me, and a extremely understanding family, not to mention some supportive friends. I've come to appreciate family & friends more than ever. Once I accepted that my life will never be normal and that colon cancer strickens 95% of crohn's sufferers by the time they are 50, I came to relax about the future. Worrying about my golden years and retirement became a thing of the past. I put a cap of 50 yrs on my life span. Now don't think that is a bad thing, hell by the time I hit that stage I want to be able to say I've lived a full life. I'm sure I might have some regrets but those are like guilt, a bag of fucking bricks that all you need to do with is let go. On my good days, I make it a point to not lay about all day. I have opened myself to new interests and experiences. I figure as long as I can stay happy & productive than the rest of the bullshit will take of itself.