Author: AnnaLarsson

Does your disease own you?

For the longest time I let Crohn’s Disease take over my life, I probably didn’t have any choice at that time because I was really sick. Then I got my operation and the sick feeling just disappeared. At the moment I thought I was cured because my colon was gone. The doctors thought I had Ulcerative Colitis. My new friend was my ostomy. I was excited and I could start my life over. For five years there was no medication and I was filing like a queen.

That did change when I started to have problems with my ostomy. It was decided that the rest of the operations should take place. Said and done, a pelvic reservoir was created and linked to what was left of the rectum. In that procedure it was discovered that I had been misdiagnosed, I had Crohn’s Disease.

My whole world collapsed. First I got angry, then sad, after that I felt hopeless and my disease owned me. I didn’t understand that at first but then I started to accept the situation and I slowly got my life back, my family helped out a lot. My daughter was around 10 years old at the time and we had just got a new puppy.

I don’t think I am alone with this feeling when Crohn’s Disease hits you for the first time and life is changing direction without asking you. So what do you do at that moment? Do you let the disease own you or do you kick your sickness in the as?

You do have a choice when that happens.

It’s ok to just brake down for a while, let the medications heal you as much as they can and let your feelings come. Just don’t stay in this. There is a time to move on and find a new way in life. Getting Crohn’s Disease is not the end of life. There are a lot of things you can do to have a good life even with a disease like this.

How can you move on?

I found out that stress is the one thing that starts my disease to get worse more than anything else. What I eat has got an impact in how active my disease is too. I think I am one of the lucky ones though. I can work full time, my daughter are all grown up and have her own son. My husband has always been a great support, taking care of me when Crohn’s disease takes the lead in my life. That still happens now and then, I often don’t see it coming before it’s too late. My husband can see the signs before I do and he always tells me and I get annoyed every time, I usually don’t accept that in the beginning. Then Crohn’s don’t give me any choice and I have to surrender and back off for a while.

Most people would think that I know my disease after so many years (sense September 1998) and I do. I just ignore it sometimes, recently to often as it seems. It’s hard to always listen to your body when life is full of so many fun things and so much to do.

Have you just been diagnosed or have you had Crohn’s Disease for some time? Do you have someone to talk to, someone who can support you when your sickness hits you in the head (or stomach)?

If you don’t have anyone to talk to, you can always contact me, and hopefully I can help you out with advice or just some support. I will start with sharing my food-files again. Feel free to download them and use them as you wish.

See yaaa next time

Are you true to yourself?

How do you know if you are true to yourself? That is a tuff question to answer. Sometimes it’s easier to lie and ignore the truth. To deal with all the crap most people carry around can be devastating and it’s really hard work. Often people need help to deal with what they carry around. Denial can work for a while but some day the past problems will catch up with you.

When I started this blog I thought that I knew who I wanted to write for. Somehow there was something missing. After a break in my blogging it hit me. There is something that I always come back to and one question got stuck in my head- How can I help people with Crohn’s Disease and give them valuable information that they can use to feel better? So far it feels like the right way to go but I have fooled myself a few times before. I will follow this trail for a while and see what comes out of this, and I hope I am really true to myself this time.

Why did I make this choice?

In 1998 I was diagnosed with Ulcerous Colitis. A few years later the doctors realized that it was Crohn’s Disease. By that time my Colon was gone and I had an ostomy. I was waiting for an operation to get a stream reservoir instead of the ostomy. So when the doctors realized what disease I had it was too late to regret what had happened.

For starters I got really mad and depressed but I got through that. Sometimes life just happens and you just have to deal with it. So I did just that and that made me understand that even if I was sad my disease had made me what I am today. Without it I wouldn’t be the person I am and I have much to give just because of my situation. Of course I feel sad when my health bother me and I need to rest more than I want. I have learned to just follow my body’s lead, most of the time. When I don’t I start to bleed, get tired and I miss more of my life from the outside world. It’s really stupid not to listen and, let’s say, I am stupid to often…   

How can I help others in my situation?

That is a good question and the real people to answer that’s you. I will try to do my best to bring value to you all. Today I will give you “do’s and don’ts” with food when you have Crohn’s Disease. Just remember that it’s not the same for everyone and you might have other experiences with food than what the files says. In the Excel-file you can register your own foods and build it as you like. You can print out the PDF-file if you want to. Just follow the links below. Or just download the files to your computer.

Please tell me how I can help you.

See yaaa next time!