diagnosis: UC

Two years ago while pregnant with Henry, I had some unusual symptoms that I chalked up to pregnancy. They went away at some point before Henry was born, and I didn't think about it further. A year later, the same strange symptoms showed up again. This time they lasted a while longer, but eventually went away. This year, in early September, they came back. They stayed, and stayed, and a month later I finally got serious about finding out what was going on.

I saw a gastroenterologist, who probably has the worst bedside manner of any doctor I've ever met. She knows her colons, but is loathe to converse with the people attached to the colons. At some point I will find a new doctor who is willing to sit with me, answer my questions, and have a detailed conversation about my disease. Perhaps a GI-minded Dr. Dreamboat?

I had to have a colonoscopy, which I expected. It seems that for most people. a colonoscopy is an inconvenience but not a big deal. I embarked on my day of fasting with clear liquids only, and that day actually went okay. But by the next morning, the combination of fasting and prep had made me very weak and I'd lost a lot of weight. I was a shriveled up little old lady. Ugh. I felt terrible. Chris and I went to the hospital and I got checked in, and we found out they were an hour behind which meant more waiting and more time without food. I did get to have IV fluids while we were waiting, which was probably a big help to my body.

When the anesthesia wore off, I woke in pain because they had pumped my intestines with air trying to get a good view. The doctor said that she couldn't check all of my colon because I have a "tortuous and redundant colon". Basically,  extra twists and turns that normal large intestines don't have. Isn't that special? They turned me over in all kinds of positions while I was unconscious (which is really weird...) and could not see what they needed to see. So not only did I have a terrible experience prepping for one colonoscopy, but I'm supposed to schedule a second "virtual" one, using CT, so my entire colon and small intestine can be checked. I can tell you, at this point I have no desire to do this soon! I just can't handle going through the prep again for a while. It was awful. Another fun fact is that insurance companies don't cover virtual colonoscopies, so even though they will be mandatory for me because of my unique anatomy, I will probably always have to fight to get my colonoscopies covered.

It took me the rest of that day to recover from the anesthesia. It was not smooth. Apparently this is a great anesthesia that people love, but for me it was very difficult to shake off. I slept the rest of the afternoon once we got home. By the way, the anesthesia was Propofol, of Michael Jackson fame. I didn't know that until Chris told me afterward, which was for the better. Creepy.

We waited a week for all the test results to come back, and found out that I have ulcerative colitis, currently localized to a small portion of my large intestine. Colitis is an auto-immune disease, which means that it (most likely) will never be cured and could possibly progress over time. It's the large intestine version of Crohn's. I don't suggest you Google it, because then you'll find out that people get really sick and end up having their colons removed and it will really freak you (me) out. When you have an autoimmune disease, there are times when the disease flares up, and then periods of remission. I felt pretty depressed and sorry for myself for a couple days, and have spent crazy amounts of time researching inflammatory bowel diseases and treatments. One night I had a good cry and felt very sorry for myself, and decided that I would wake up the next morning feeling like a new person and ready to enjoy life again. And I did. I'm taking medication to get this current "flare" under control, and am trying a dietary change. I also found a Facebook group for people with UC, and have found it to be a wealth of information and support. Also a wealth of potty humor, if you're into that kind of thing. And if you have UC, you'd better be into the potty humor or you're in for a real problem. Might as well enjoy yourself as much as possible... 

The scariest things, to me, about autoimmune diseases are the medications used to treat them. A lot of these drugs are highly toxic and cause as many problems as they're meant to solve. The last thing I want is to be on long-term medication. I've been researching diet and other natural treatments. Because I already eat a plant-based diet, there aren't many changes left to make. The only remaining big change is to eliminate wheat or all gluten. There do seem to be connections between gluten sensitivity and inflammatory bowel disease in some people. Doctors who advocate for plant-based diets recommend eliminating wheat for people with autoimmune diseases. So, I'm going to see what happens with that. I've also read that stress can trigger flares or worsen symptoms. I'm pretty sure stress is what triggered my very first flare, two years ago. My symptoms are gone for now, with the medication. But I want to go off the medication as soon as possible. We'll see if some diet and lifestyle changes (an even higher-nutrient plant-based diet with no wheat, and stress reduction- more exercise and meditation) will help.