Posts tagged ‘Crohn’s Sucks’
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.
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.
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.
Money Matters
Anyone with a disease knows just how expensive it is to live with a chronic illness. The medications, doctors appointments, surgeries, emergency room visits, and everything in between- it all adds up over time. In fact, I just went back through our records and since we got married in 2009, give or take a bit, we have spent over $4,000 out of pocket on Crohn’s related expenses.
I feel unbelievably lucky that Dan and I have health insurance because of the high medical costs associated with Crohn’s Disease. Every six weeks, Dan goes to his doctor’s office to get his Remicade infusion. So every six weeks, we pay a Remicade copay. We also pay for parking at his doctor’s office, wear and tear on the car (its a 60 mile round trip from our house to his doctor and back), gas, copay for check ups every four to six months, and for other small procedures periodically (bone density scans, colonoscopies, CT scans, etc.).
The ABC’s of Crohn’s Disease & UC: “B”
Here is the second installment of the ABC’s of Crohn’s Disease and UC. Surprisingly, I didn’t find many B’s associated with the disease (aside from some obvious ones). Let me know if you know of any others that should be added to the list!
Jennifer Jaff, Patient Advocate, Passes Away
I am a little late in posting but last week, a great advocate for chronically ill patients passed away from complications with her Crohn’s Disease. Jennifer Jaff, 55, was executive director of Advocacy for Patients. She was first diagnosed with Crohn’s when she was 19. She had eight operations to treat her disease and during one 12-year-period gained 120 pounds while on steroids.
There’s an app for that!
Sorry for the lack of posts recently- I was on a family trip to Ohio and didn’t have much time for blogging. But I am back and with lots of ideas for new entries.
PS- if you haven’t done so already, please like Caring for Crohn’s on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @caringforcrohns!
That brings us to today’s entry- iPhone apps for Crohn’s and UC patients!
I was reading an article recently about all types of apps for IBD patients- from restroom locators to symptom diaries to some funny ones also. There are tons out there and they are definitely useful for those out there who are living with these diseases on a daily basis.
Caring for Crohn's & UC 