As I listened to a podcast from my friend Stephen Dempster on the blog Behind the Times, he raised a good point that immediately got my tired brain working. He stated the following:
The question we should really be asking is not so much “Do you think we will ever find a cure for Crohn’s Disease?”, but rather, “Do you think we will ever find a cause?”
How do you cope when you’re stuck with a chronic illness or life-changing surgery? For me, it’s got to be humor; not just chuckling at random jokes, but deliberately making it a point to crack jokes or create memes about IBD or my ostomy. Why?
Jan 2015 – Jessica Grossman is the founder and spokesperson for the ostomy awareness campaign, Uncover Ostomy. Founded in 2009, Jessica and the campaign work to change the negative conversation surrounding ostomy surgery into an open and positive discussion. I’ve been a fan of Jessica and her campaign for about as long as I’ve had an ostomy, and she was one of the first people to inspire me to advocate for ostomates.
As the end of 2014 arrives, I look back at the year in amazement of all the wonderfully positive IBD and Ostomy awareness efforts I’ve been able to both witness and take part in; while I’m not back to perfect health yet, I’ve been so grateful to have had relief from years worth of illness.
I had my first MRI today in order to find out why my butt has been hurting (and bleeding) over a year since my proctectomy. I’d be nice if perianal disease could quit being such a pain in the ass!
The experience was interesting, and if you have an IBD, you may at some point need an MRI too. Of course, no two experiences are the same, so keep that in mind while I explain how my day went.
Despite all the wonderfully positive stories you might see on the news or on blogs about IBD’ers who’ve overcome personal obstacles, it probably wasn’t always easy for them.
It was a year ago today that my rectum was removed and my anus left to close up into a “Ken Doll Butt”, so I’ll be celebrating my ASSiversary today =)
We’ve all heard about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), but have you heard of Posttraumatic Growth?
