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.