What Not to Say to an IBD Patient or Caregiver
In the almost six years that I have been with Dan, many stupid things have been said to me about the disease. Usually, I just brush it off because I am not the one living with the disease every day.
This post comes after I read a piece in Health Magazine entitled “11 Things Not to Say to Someone with Ulcerative Colitis.” Crohnies hear the brunt of the dumb things that are said about the disease, but us caregivers definitely hear some also.
Below is a list of some of the things that have been said to me that you really shouldn’t say to an IBD patient or caregiver (or really anyone with a disease). Disclaimer: you may not agree with every one I put on the list. This is just made up of ones that annoy me (and I may become annoyed more than others). What is okay or not okay to ask or say is totally subjective and varies person to person.
The ABC’s of Crohn’s Disease & UC: “D” and “E”
Over the past week or so, I have spent awhile researching the next entry in this series, D. And what I found is beyond a few obvious ones, there aren’t many things related to Crohn’s and UC that begin with the letter D. Therefore, I am combining two letters together for this entry: D & E. So without further ado, read on!
Hurricane (or any storm) prep for IBD
If you’re like me, the past few days have been a haze of bad weather and destruction. Living on the eastern seaboard, in the past year we’ve had three major storms- two hurricanes and one blizzard. Each storm knocked us out of commission for days with no power and damage.
We were lucky- we neither lost power nor had any damage. But others weren’t as lucky. My heart goes out to all those who had their homes wrecked and ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.
That brings me to today’s short post- preparing for a storm with IBD in mind.
Laughing your ass off
The great thing about having Crohn’s or UC is that there is no shortage of jokes you can make about poop, farting, burping, gas, and all of the other immature slang terms that can be used to reference bodily excretions and noises from the rear end.
That being said, its no surprise that one comedian has embraced that. Ben Morrison has taken his battle with Crohn’s and turned it into a comedy show aptly named Pain in the Butt.
Join The Fight Against IBD: Your first year with IBD
Eating with Crohn’s & UC
Anyone with IBD knows how much having the disease sucks. It limits what you can do, where you can go (in proximity to a bathroom), and what you can eat. While you can’t control when you are going to flare or need the bathroom, you can control your diet and try to suit it to help you feel as well as you can.
Whether or not you are on a special diet, it’s always important to keep track of any foods that may trigger you. For some people, that’s spicy foods, for others dairy. Each person is different so please don’t take what I write as an end-all be-all for IBD diets. Do what works best for you. So without further ado, here are some of the more common diets and food restrictions for Crohnies.
Would you?
If you could give anybody your disease so they could understand what you go through, what it really feels like emotionally and physically and if they had to endure the very worst of the disease for a month would you do it? Why or why not?
My best friend, a new Crohn’s patient
Last week, my best friend was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease.
My heart goes out to her- she lives in upstate New York several hours from her family. She sent me a text message to tell me the diagnosis and when I called her, she had been at the doctor alone except for a friend picking her up from the colonoscopy. She knows what Dan and I have gone through over the past six years. She’s also a nurse, which helps her have a clinical understanding of the disease. But not much can prepare you for the diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease or UC.
Introspective Tuesday
I’m feeling introspective today more so than usual. I was playing around on Facebook when a new blog post popped up in my news feed from a high school friend’s blog, Before and Afro. Today’s entry title – MAJOR LIFE UPDATE. Between the wording and the all caps, I was intrigued to see what she was announcing. (Note: her past blog entries have been about her adventures as a white girl rocking an Afro wig, it’s pretty awesome).
So I logged onto her blog to read the new entry to find that she quit her job to figure out what she wants to do with her life and blog full-time.
To say that I am jealous is an understatement.
ABC’s of Crohn’s Disease & UC: “C”
Sorry for the lapse in posting- we hit Jewish holiday season and then I got swamped at work. But I am back with the next in my ABC series- the letter C! I am excited to do this one because I came up with a lot of things that go with the letter and the two diseases.
Caring for Crohn's & UC 