Posts tagged ‘blockage’
World IBD Day 2015- A Day of Thanks
Today, May 19, marks the observance of World IBD Day, a day led by patient organizations across four continents to raise awareness and educate the public about inflammatory bowel diseases. Around the world, more than 5 million people live with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two debilitating digestive diseases that have detrimental effects on patients physically, emotionally, financially, and more. I know that my blog has been stagnant for months, but I figured today was a great day to return to it.
On World IBD Day last year, I talked about feeling defeated by the lack of progress being made for IBD patients. I was feeling pessimistic after the passing of a young IBD patient and a segment on a major news station that confused IBD with IBS. After a lot of thinking, I decided this year I wanted to be more optimistic.
I just returned from spending four days in Washington, D.C. as part of the IBD Social Circle, the online movement dedicated to bridging communications gaps and inspiring and educating the IBD community. While there, I got to spend time with some incredible IBD activists, like Ally Bain (the girl behind Ally’s Law/Restroom Access Act), Laura of Mangia Paleo, Brian of the Intense Intestines Foundation, Stephanie of The Stolen Colon, and so many more. I also was provided the opportunity to attend Digestive Disease Week, the world’s largest gathering of physicians and researchers in gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal surgery. After spending a weekend surrounded by strong, passionate advocates and bloggers talking about Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, I decided that this year’s post would be dedicated to thanks.
The Essential Hospital Bag
If you have IBD, it’s inevitable that at some point, you will wind up in the hospital. Some stays might be for a few hours, some a few days, and for the unlucky ones, a few weeks or months. Regardless of how long you are in the hospital, there are some essentials to take with you to ensure that your patient’s stay, and subsequently yours, is as pleasant as a stay in the hospital can be.
If only it were this simple…
I’ve come up with a list based off of what I’ve brought to the hospital the three times Dan has been hospitalized. Obviously, everyone has different interests so this list can be modified to fit anyone’s needs.
Worrywart
I might be crazy but every time Dan says he has a stomach ache (which is pretty frequently), I am reminded of the dreadful night last year when he woke me at 2A.M. to go to the emergency room. That night we found out he had a blockage. Now, every time he has pain in the same area, I worry it’s another one.
I know the fear is irrational since he had surgery last year to remove the narrowing that caused the blockage (will go into that in a later post) and he has a wide open passage. But it still scares me.
Anyone else out there worry like that?
Caring for Crohn's & UC 