Caring for Crohn's & UC

#ThisIsIBD: Andrea

December 2, 2014 at 10:15 am Rebecca K. Leave a comment

When I sought out stories for my recent Huffington Post piece to illustrate life with IBD, I received an incredible amount of personal stories from people living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, too many to fit into the 1,000 word limit I had for my piece. In observance of Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, I am going to share the additional stories on my blog throughout the week.

First up, my friend Andrea from The Great Bowel Movement.

Andrea, 31, Crohn’s disease

I had symptoms for about nine months going into my freshman year of college. Once I was in school for a few months, all hell broke loose and I came home from school and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. For the next seven years or so, I tried managing my symptoms with every different type of medicine that was available to me.

In 2008, while feeling relatively normal, I had an abscess (pus pocket) develop and attach itself to my colon. The abscess burst and I was rushed into emergency surgery during which my appendix along with four feet of my large intestine and three inches of my small intestine were removed. Since March 2013, I have been medicine-free thanks to a multifaceted approach of functional neurology, major diet changes, and consistent exercise and stress management.

I think my IBD is my purpose in life. It is part of me and who I am…as well as what I do and what I love. The symptoms, procedures, good times and bad times- all of it. It’s life.

Stay tuned for more stories all week long!

Entry filed under: Advocates, CCFA Awareness Week, General Disease, Interviews, Treatment. Tags: CCFA, CCFA Awareness Week, crohn's, Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, crohn's disease, Crohn's Sucks, uc, ulcerative colitis.