Another Incredible Day

What’s my UC story … to be honest when I’m in medicated remission I completely forget I have ulcerative colitis. It can be surreal to think that I have an inflammatory bowel disease; an auto-immune condition. I was diagnosed just after turning 18, I actually spent my eighteenth birthday experiencing my first flare and I had no idea what was going on. What’s a flare… well I’m going to allow you to stop reading now if you don’t want TMI – a flare consists of urgent bowel movements, loose stools, mucous, bleeding, discomfort, and pain. It can vary from person-to-person and flare-to-flare.

With that initial flare I had to go to my GP a couple of times because they wanted to test for bacterial infections and viruses before I was referred to a gastroenterologist, who I’ve now been seeing for the past 10 years (he’s amazing!). I would say from my initial diagnosis to the age of 24, I spent the majority of time in medicated remission. Small flares would trigger, drinking during that period didn’t help the case, but I guess during this phase I never really thought too much about my condition. I even had 3 months of full remission, the only time I’ve ever been off medication in the past ten years.

At the age of 24 I experienced a bad flare which resulted in travelling from Alaska back to New Zealand for treatment, and I got back into remission quite quickly. A couple of months after I moved back to New Zealand at the age of 25 I experienced another bad flare, the transition back was quite stressful, it was the second time I tried to go off my medication, and this was worse than the flare the year before. It was the first time I went on prednisone (a steroid) and azathioprine (an immune suppressant) to treat my condition. Most recently my flare at the end of last year was the worst one to-date. It’s quite crazy to see that each flare I’ve had has been worse than the last, it’s a bit daunting to really think about it.

The most recent flare saw me go into hospital for 6 days. I had lost a substantial amount of weight, I was pale and gaunt, in terrible pain on the toilet which evolved into dry-retching and vomiting, and I had absolutely no energy. All I wanted to do was lie on the couch and cry, and it got to the point where I was saying to my parents all I want is to feel better. They had never seen me that bad before. Once again, I’m in medicated remission now, I was on a short-term dose of prednisone and I will be on azathioprine now for the next couple of years along with Asacol (this has always been my medication – a gastrointestinal anti-inflammatory).

I’ve never let my ulcerative colitis get in my way. Heck, half the time I end up weeks into a flare before I actually realise what’s going on. I always just think its hemorrhoids that don’t go away after a couple of weeks… Funnily enough on one of my flares it was a friend who said, “do you think it’s your UC?” Which I quickly dismissed and said nah too.

What’s happened more recently is a change in perspective for myself and an urge to take better care of my body. I’ve seen my UC progress and the flares strengthen each time, it used to be 'it is what it is', but I guess this last one shook me a bit. In the back of my mind I know I do have fears about what the future may in-tale, I’ve been considerably fortunate with my condition to-date.

I know in my heart I will continually push and challenge myself; I have a relentless drive towards my goals. What I now take into consideration though is how much I pursue at once and ensuring I get rest along the way.