Crohn's Disease

What is Crohn's disease?
Crohn’s disease is an ongoing disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive tract, also referred to as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Crohn’s disease can affect any area of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine, called the ileum. The swelling extends deep into the lining of the affected organ. The swelling can cause pain and can make the intestines empty frequently, resulting in diarrhea. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease, the general name for diseases that cause swelling in the intestines. (Taken from NDDIC website.)
Symptoms:
The most common symptoms of Crohn’s disease are abdominal pain, often in the lower right area, and diarrhea. Rectal bleeding, weight loss, arthritis, skin problems, and fever may also occur. Bleeding may be serious and persistent, leading to anemia. (Taken from NDDIC website.)

Little known fact about me. I have Crohn's disease. I was diagnosed when I was 14 years old, freshman in high school. What a horrible time to be diagnosed with something (though when is it ever a good time?). Entering high school is bad enough, but then to start feeling very ill?!

My symptoms were very minor but that meant it was hard to diagnose. I was very thin, just under 100lbs, and being 5' 4'' did not look good. I was exhausted all of the time. I would go to school, get home fall asleep, wake up to eat dinner then go back to bed. Eating hurt. Every time I ate about 10-15 min later I was doubled on the floor in pain. So I started to not eat as much. I lost 5-8lbs, bringing my weight to the low 90's. I also ran a low temp every day. My parents began taking me to the doctor but no one could figure out what was wrong with me. I didn't have the classic diarrhea symptom of Crohn's. Some doctor said he thought I was just anorexic. As if?! It hurt to eat. I was poked and prodded, I had to visit a gynecologist (talk about embarrassing!), got an ultra sound as well as various other tests because one thought was that I was having my periods internally since I hadn't started menstruating yet (probably because I had no body fat). I was referred to a gastroenterologist who took one look at me, saw some subtle symptoms that other doctor's didn't see like the bruises on my shins and decided to do a colonoscopy. Lo and behold, I was diagnosed with Crohn's. I was put on steroid treatment and sulfa drugs. I hated the steroids. My face ballooned up, noticebly. I remember a guy in my Spanish class commenting how my face was so big. (Moon face, one of the many side effects of prednisone.) 7 month's later I was slowly tapered off the steroids but kept on the sulfa drugs, but by end of high school I wasn't even taking those anymore. (And that same guy in class commented how my face got skinny again. Thank god it went back down!)

I had one relapse in 2002, had another colonoscopy, tried some med's but they didn't work out for me. I stopped taking them and went into remission again. Thankfully I've been feeling good, I want to attribute it to my working out. Starting 2002 I began truely competing in triathlons and running. Perhaps that's what's keeping me well.

So what prodded me to post my story? A few weeks ago I was going through some old boxes from my parents house. I found a bunch of "Get Well" cards from when I was first diagnosed. It brought back my memories of that time and felt I should share.

New Music

I just downloaded some more music for my spin classes. I thought I'd share my new fav's that will definitely be on my playlist this week:

Bullet Proof by La Roux
I Like It by Enrique Iglesias feat Pitbull
OMG by Usher Feat will.i.am
Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
Halfway Gone by Lifehouse
All The Right Moves by One Republic
Solo by Iyaz
Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha
Nothin On You by B.o.B Feat Bruno Mars
Baby by Justin Bieber Feat Ludacris (OMG, my first Justin Bieber song. I never even knew what song(s) he did until I found this. And BTW, this is the only one I know so far.)
California Gurls by Katy Perry
Paper Planes by M.I.A
A couple of cooldown songs:
Breakeven by The Script
Fix You by Coldplay

Book Read 2010

2010 Books:

1. The End (Series of Unfortunate Events #13) by Lemony Snicket
2. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
3. Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl
4. Toddlers Gone Wild! Rants from a Mommy Brain by Rebecca Eckler
5. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
6. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
8. Switchcraft by Mary Castillo
9. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
10. Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
11. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
12. Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde
13. The Importance of Being Married by Gemma Townley
14. My Life in France by Julia Child
15. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
16. Made in the USA by Billie Letts
17. A Wild Affair by Gemma Townley
18. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
19. My Horizontal Live: A Collection of One Night Stands by Chelsea Handler
20. Through The Heart by Kate Morgenroth
21. As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a girl by John Colapinto
(Insane story, true story! A little bit more technical than I liked, but I'm glad I read it.)
22. What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandel by Zoe Heller
Bit of a lackluster ending.
23. What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman
24. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
25. Naptime is the New Happy Hour: And other ways toddlers turn your life upside down by Stephanie Wilder-Taylor
26. Promises to Keep by Jane Green
27. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
28. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

29. They Did it With Love by Kate Morgenroth

30. Animal Farm by George Orwell

31. This Little Mommy Stayed Home by Samantha Wilde

32. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Funny, I've read a couple of classics lately. I liked Animal Farm. I had never read it in high school and decided to pick it up recently.

Fly Away Home was really good. I liked the story and the way Jennifer wrote each character.

I listened to two books on CD, one was The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory, LOVED listening to that one on cd. I actually want to pick up her next book on CD. I also listened to "There's a Slight Chance I might be Going to Hell" by Laurie Notaro. Funny book, glad I listened to it rather than read it.

Current book: "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger

Current book on cd: "The Shack" by William Young