Ulcerative Colitis: Weeks Following the Diagnosis
The usual disclaimer:
Consider yourself warned. In the post below, I’m going to be really honest. I frequently get asked questions about ulcerative colitis, living with ulcerative colitis, what the illness is like, what the symptoms are, and what happens if I eat things I shouldn’t. I tend to shy away from answering because… well… it’s not very polite to discuss “number twos” in casual conversation. But the more I search for healthy lifestyle tips, recipes, blogs, and first-hand accounts of living with ulcerative colitis, the more I realize that there isn’t much out there. I feel like I should be honest here. But it’s not pretty. So for the squeamish (or those who just don’t want to know about my bodily functions), I understand. But you should probably stop reading here.
The weeks that followed my diagnosis were, possibly, even more exhausting than the weeks leading up to it. Sure, I had a name for why I’d been feeling so cruddy. But I was also faced with the daunting realization that ulcerative colitis doesn’t go away. It can be in remission, but it is something I will deal with for the rest of my life.
Armed with Prednisone and Colazal, one to help my colon heal and one to hopefully keep it healed, I headed back to campus with my mom. Although she originally planned on just helping me get settled, my mom ended up staying for the entire week. I was weak, tired, and enjoyed my mom’s company and support.
Prednisone and I got off to a rocky start. For the first few days, I had to wake up about four hours before I wanted to be anywhere. I needed that much time to eat, get my stomach settled, and then hopefully keep the steroids down. They were hard on my stomach, and even if I didn’t throw up, it took a couple of hours for my stomach to settle again. Once my stomach got used to the medication, Prednisone found other ways to make its presence known. Blackheads. All over my face. And weight gain. Now, I lost quite a bit of weight leading up to my diagnosis, so my clothes were a little big before I started taking it. I took Prednisone for about 8 – 12 weeks. In that time, I went up three sizes. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Looking back, aside from my family and friends, my college is the thing I am most grateful for throughout those first few weeks. The Vice President of Student Life called me at home the day of my colonoscopy to check in and see how I was doing. Back at school, when I approached my advisor about dropping a class to allow more time for rest, two of my professors offered other solutions. I ended up keeping my full course load, but taking one class via e-mail. My 8:00 am philosophy class was difficult for me to get to while I was adjusting to my new medication, so I frequently attended at 12:15 class that was full, with my professor’s blessing. One of the many reasons I love Clarke is how comfortable everyone made me feel while I was learning to live with ulcerative colitis.
McDonald’s chicken nuggets got me through the next few weeks. I was also able to eat cheddar cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, and baked potatoes. Slowly, I added bland foods. There were setbacks along the way — like when I decided to have almost an entire box of Wheat Thins for a snack and couldn’t figure out why my stomach hurt like crazy. Oops.
Even though I was slowly finding my groove, I was afraid of food. I couldn’t try something new if I had anywhere to be in the next day or two. I had already fallen behind in my classes, and didn’t really want to fall any further behind. (Not to mention the fact that J & I had just started dating, and I was mortified by the thought that I might have a “colitis attack,” as I call them, when he was there.)
So I lived on a few simple foods. When I knew I had nowhere to be, I indulged on favorites I knew I wasn’t supposed to eat. And that worked, but only for a little while.
Ulcerative Colitis: Weeks Following the Diagnosis
Tags: living with ulcerative colitis, bodily functions, ulcerative colitis, hand accounts, first few days, healthy lifestyle tips
When are you going to post again? You really entertain a lot of people!
Howdy would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
I believe one of your current ads initiated my web browser to resize, you may well need to set up that on your blacklist.
This blog site is extremely cool! How can I make one like this !?
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
As soon as I originally commented I clicked on the
Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing several weeks of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?
Mate. This site is sick! How did you make it look like this !
Practical info. Propitious me I found your cobweb purlieus unintentionally, and I’m shocked why this misunderstand of god’s will didn’t came about in help! I bookmarked it.
Excellent site you have here but I was curious if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get opinions from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Kudos!
Dude. This blog is sick. How can I make it look like this !
possibility of financial risks. The more stable and correct the decisions of the corporate
Well, I do not know if that’s going to work for me, however definitely proved helpful for you!
Excellent post!
I savour, lead to I discovered exactly what I used to be taking a look for. You’ve ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives in depth information.
I like the website layout ! How did you make it. Its very nice!
Re: Whoever produced the comment that this was a great web site genuinely needs to have their brain examined.
Superb website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really like to be a part of online community where I can get feed-back from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Appreciate it!
Im getting a little problem. I cant get my reader to pick up your rss feed, Im using aol reader by the way.
I have got 1 suggestion for your website. It seems like right now there are a number of cascading stylesheet troubles when launching a selection of web pages within google chrome and internet explorer. It is functioning okay in internet explorer. Possibly you can double check that.
I wanted to put you a bit of word to give many thanks over again for your personal incredible ideas you’ve contributed here. It has been so shockingly generous with people like you to make without restraint exactly what a lot of folks would’ve offered for sale for an electronic book in order to make some bucks for their own end, specifically considering that you might have done it in the event you considered necessary. These tricks likewise acted like the easy way to fully grasp that other people online have the same fervor similar to mine to figure out many more in terms of this problem. I think there are several more enjoyable moments up front for people who look over your site.
This will be a great web site, might you be involved in doing an interview about just how you developed it? If so e-mail me! http://akcai.com/2011/12/24/online-dating-tips/
I like this site very much, Its a very nice post to read and receive information.
Attractive element of content. I simply stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment or even I success you get admission to persistently fast.
2 potato
Have you considered adding some social bookmarking buttons to these blogs. At least for bebo.
I genuinely like your article. It’s evident that you have a lot knowledge on this topic. Your factors are properly made and relate-able. Thanks for writing participating and interesting material.
When are you going to post again? You really inform a lot of people!
Im getting a small problem. I cant get my reader to pickup your rss feed, Im using yahoo reader by the way.
I believe one of your current advertisements initiated my web browser to resize, you might well need to put that on your blacklist.
Many thanks for posting this, It?s simply what I was researching for on bing. I?d a lot relatively hear opinions from a person, barely than a company web page, that?s why I like blogs so significantly. Many thanks!
I cling on to listening to the news broadcast speak about receiving free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the most excellent site to get one. Could you advise me please, where could i get some?
Have you given any consideration at all with translating your current webpage in to French? I know a couple of translaters right here which would help you do it for no cost if you wanna contact me personally.
capabilities than other types of adhesive which contain either water or chlorinated solvents. It
You should really control the comments at this site
Have you given any thought at all with converting your website into Chinese? I know a few of translaters here which would help you do it for free if you wanna make contact with me.
I had been wanting to know if you ever thought of switching the page layout of your website? It is very well written; I really like what youve got to say. But maybe you can create a little more in the way of content so people could connect to it better. Youve got a great deal of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?
This is a amazing website, would you be interested in making time for an interview regarding just how you designed it? If so e-mail me and my friends!
water softener best website here Undeniably believe that that you stated. Your favorite justification appeared to be at the net the easiest thing to take into accout of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed whilst folks think about concerns that they just do not know about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest and defined out the entire thing without having side effect , other folks can take a signal. Will probably be again to get more. Thank you
Im having a little problem. I cant get my reader to pickup your feed, Im using yahoo reader by the way.
Heya i’m for the primary time here. I came across this board and I in finding It truly helpful & it helped me out much. I am hoping to present something back and aid others like you aided me.
Virtually all of the responses on this particular blog page dont make sense.
Ciao! that’s nice fantastic blog. See my private site. I believe That is also level.
Hello there I am so excited I found your site, I really found you by accident, while I was looking on Google for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a incredible post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I donít have time to go through it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the fantastic job. http://www.bookmarkpaddy.com/user.php?login=wibradly&view=history
Aidan Booth will be releasing his latest product which is called Authority Hybrid. read The Authority Hybrid reviews
Im getting a teeny problem. I cant get my reader to pickup your rss feed, Im using msn reader by the way.
Just discovered this blog thru Bing, what a way to brighten up my year!
Im having a tiny problem. I cant get my reader to pick-up your rss feed, Im using aol reader by the way.
This really solved my problem, thank you!
After I start your Feed it appears to be a ton of junk, is the problem on my part?