Lifelong-Ongoing Battle With Crohn’s Disease
The battle with Crohn’s disease has been a lifelong and ongoing battle for me. I was officially diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was 19 years old. Most likely I had it when I was 17 and a senior in high school. I had to have an emergency Appendectomy then. Because I had an excellent GPA I didn’t have to take final exams, which at the time I thought was cool! Between ages 17 and 19, I had some odd physical symptoms but never told anyone.
My mom had Crohn’s but I didn’t know it. She had had it most of her life. During my second year in college I had an emergency surgery during the Spring semester. I had 3 and 1/2 feet of bowel removed during that surgery. My mom flew to where I was attending college. After my release from the hospital she helped me pack up and took me home where I stayed for the next year to recuperate and save enough money to return to college.
Crohn's has been a huge impact on my life
The surgeon had told my mom that at first he thought that I had cancer, so she began to prepare to lose another child. My baby sister had died from pneumonia when I was 10 years old. During my time at home recuperating I began having hemorrhaging and other symptoms characteristic of Crohn’s. Thus began my lifelong struggle with this difficult illness. Since that time I’ve undergone 8 bowel resections, an ileostomy and a total of 34 surgeries specifically for Crohn’s or related to treatment for the disease. I’m now nearly 67 years old and although Crohn’s disease has had a huge impact on my life in major ways, I’m a very blessed man and thankful to God for His goodness to me over the intervening years. I have an amazing wife who has been with me through all of what I’ve experienced in my journey.
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