My name is Andrew T. and I was recently diagnosed with Indeterminate Colitis

My name is Andrew and I'm a teen male living in Austin, Texas. In mid Sept 2017, I had just started a 2 week long school break and on Monday morning I woke up with very bad diarrhea and stomach cramping. This was scary since I had never even had diarrhea before and I didn't know what was wrong. I spent the rest of the week on the toilet or asleep in bed because I rarely had the energy to get up and do anything.

On Friday, I went to turn in blood and stool tests but they wouldn't admit me into the hospital yet because apparently it wasn't an emergency. I started taking Mesalamine but by the next Monday my symptoms had gotten far worse and I was starting to lose a lot of blood. My mom ran me to the ER late at night and I was hospitalized due to blood loss and dehydration. They got me on steroids, IV fluids, and supplements of iron and other vitamins.

After a miserable 4 days of sleepless nights, vomiting up stomach acid, MRI testing, and spending hours on the toilet bleeding, my symptoms started to improve. I got a final blood test to check for tuberculosis and they sent me home Friday after lunch because I had gotten up and walking again. My dietician recommended the infamous SCD diet and I haven't eaten any junk food in since then. Even though I can't have sugary drinks or fried foods, I am thankful that I have been symptom free for a month and a half. I can now say that I have been through hell and back and that nothing is going to slow me down.