July 16, 2004
An Introduction
Hey there!
Guess I should start with an introduction right? I mean this is my first post and all. So here is a bit of info: My name is Leslie and I am a 29 year old mother to four. I am also married to my high school sweetie who is just awesome. I do stay at home with my kids, in case you are wondering. Oh and I make cold processed soap, which helps take my mind off of stressful things in life, like certain health related issues.
Okay so that is just a small part of who I am. Another part is having Ulcerative Colitis. There is no easy way to explain this disease. I was just diagnosed in Feb of this year but have been having problems off and on for the past 3 years or so. So how does one get this disease? Hmmm. I am really not sure! After all of the reading that I have done, there does not seem to be one particular cause and there is no medicinal cure. They say it might be hereditary, which in my case it might be. Recently I found out that my grandfather had to have some of his intestine's removed, but I don't know why and can't ask him since he is no longer alive. My parents do not know either. Also one faiteful night (hah), about 5-6 hours after scarfing down some yummy potato salad and crawfish etoufee, I developed horribe abdominal cramping, vomiting and oh man I hate to even type this, bloody diarrhea. This started at 1 a.m. I went to the hospital about 9 a.m., dehydrated and still in a huge amount of pain. They hooked me up to IV's and was kept in the hospital for 3 days. The diagnosis? Food poisoning caused by the Shigella bacteria. So I had my first colonoscopy in the hospital, my intestines were covered in ulcers. I was never told I had UC then, just a simple case of food poisoning to which I thought "Cool, take medicine and I will get better!" Little did I know though, the problems that I would start having soon after. I had joint pain (still do at times) and continued with Diarrhea/cramping for some time, well about 3 years. I kept telling myself, that it was just a virus or something, never going to the Dr...........
I finally decided to see my OB/Gyn in Sept. 2003, thinking I had a cyst or something female going on. From there I had ultrasounds, CT scans and tons of x-rays, all normal! Yay, cool but why so much cramping? So she said I need to see a gastro Dr. I then had my second colonoscopy where he told me I had IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) More specific, Ulcerative Colitis. So I am on maintenance medicine now to keep my flare-ups in check. I take anywhere from 13 pills on up a day. I do consider myself lucky though. There are some folks out there with Crohn's and UC in alot worse shape than I.
Well I hoped that explained what is going on with me somewhat. I am happy I have found a place to post my experiences with this condition (I hate the word Disease) I will try to post everyday, I have frequent Doctors appointments so I will report results here as well. Later days.
Posted by Leslie at 01:43 PM | Comments (2)
July 22, 2004
Good morning!
I had a good weekend, how about you? My stomach bothered me a bit but not bad, not bad at all! I think the one thing that really does bother me about this illness is not the medicine or the pain but guilt. The possibility of my children maybe having this one day since it is hereditary and all. I don't even like to think about it. I have never told anyone my actual fears, so this is a first. It is not even about me........Gotta go and take another round of Colazal.
Oh and one other thing before I actually do get up to take my meds, I have to thank Tracy for allowing me to contribute here at HealthDiaries! It is really a great feeling to just be able to talk about something that bothers you, not having to hold back any kind of information, which I often do in real life.
Posted by Leslie at 05:07 AM | Comments (1)
