Where I'm Coming From

I have Crohn's disease, an autoimmune disease that affects the digestive system. 


In 2002--my freshman year of high school, sharp stomach pains demanded I skip a week of school and get to a doctor. At that time, they told me I had gastroenteritis, a generic "stomach irritation".


Almost every morning as a high school student included nausea. I was never able to eat breakfast for fear of losing it--plus I simply had no appetite. 

2005

My freshman year of college was similar. My stomach roiled after eating certain foods, I still had nausea, and wore down a path to the bathroom. After most meals, I needed to lie down in order to curb the mounting sharp pains beneath my ribs. My stomach would distend like a grapefruit protruding under my left ribs, and then I realized, "Ok, this is not normal for other people."


In 2007, I went to a gastroenterologist and she ran a battery of tests: blood tests, a gastric emptying study, a barium study, and a double colonoscopy/endoscopy. She finally gave me a diagnosis: Crohn's disease. She put me on a steriod and a Crohn's med, and I went back to college. 


The medications had no positive effect on me whatsoever, so I went to a new doctor closer to school. This gastroenterologist gave me the good news: "It might not be Crohn's at all." Then he gave me the annoying news: "Let's do all those tests again." Then he gave me REALLY annoying news: "Oh yeah, it's Crohn's." I got on Prednisone, gained 15 puffy pounds, and still felt the exact same as I had before I started any of this. 

2009

So I stopped taking all medications. What was the point? 


I got on with life, living with the pain, accepting it as my "normal". I thought I could do that indefinitely.


Then, in the fall of 2009, I took a turn for the worse. I was in so much pain I could no longer stand; I had to quit my job and instead, be bedridden. Every few days, my dad carried me to the backseat of the car, where I could lay down, and we’d try another doctor’s office. We consulted what seemed like every type of doctor in the Treasure Valley—gastroenterologists, general practitioners, nurse practitioners, urgent care, acupuncturist, biofeedback specialists, naturopaths, reflexologists. Each doctor I went to was at a complete loss as to what was going on in my body. I was prescribed upwards of fifteen medications by doctors who simply tried a shot-gun approach in hopes of perhaps finding something to at least alleviate my pain.

            Weeks went by in that condition. None of the medications made any difference for the swelling or the pain. I was confined to bed, losing days at a time in shallow sleep. No one had any answers as to what it was or what to do about it. Crohn’s had shown me who was boss; I forfeited my sense of control when I realized my daily activities were 100% inhibited. I shrunk to 90 pounds, repeatedly skipped menstrual cycles, and could no longer bathe on my own. My limbs were just stringy things made out of taffy, not useful appendages of muscle and bone.

Bedridden, 2009

I finally ended up in the ER, and shortly thereafter, the OR. I found a specialized surgeon who turned out to be a miracle in my life. In my follow-up appointment after my first surgery, she told me she could keep carving out the infected tissues in my body, but I would never heal without a strong Crohn's medication. 

So I got on Humira, a very powerful immunosuppressant that comes in a refrigerated pen. Every two weeks I pinch a hunk of skin on my thigh and inject Humira into my system. After two surgeries, and relegating control to Humira, I was able to go back to school. A few months later, I had one more small surgery, but the improvement was immense. Surgery gave me my life back! 

Walking again! 2010

For the rest of my college career, I felt better than I had in high school. There was much, much less nausea, I actually swung to the other side of the bathroom-visiting spectrum (I went less than the average Joe, unfortunately), and the stomach pain in general felt manageable. 

In 2011, the weekend before I graduated from college, I had one more surgery. I had begun to lose trust in Humira. I had been on it for two years, and I still needed surgeries? Plus, my gastroenterologist tells me time and time again that because I am on Humira, I should be able to eat anything I want, pain-free. But that's not the case. 

I've tried lots of dietary plans: reduced lactose, reduced gluten/yeast, sugar-free, reduced processed foods, specialized Crohn's diets, and even recently flirted with the blood type diet. And yet, no difference. 

Humira has begun to take a hard toll on my body. I now have blood tests every few months to monitor my liver enzyme levels. I am constantly exhausted, and may have developed thyroid problems. The dangers of such a strong, long-term medication are unsettling.

So here I am, subscribing to a whole foods, plant-based dietary plan! 

My goal is to eventually get off Humira, and live medication-free. Along the way, I'd like to regain my energy, sleep better, and ditch the stomach pain Humira has failed to spare me from. 

I'm drawn to a plant-based diet because I love the thought of eating foods that have largely remained untampered, undiluted, unadulterated. Modern food processing is convenient, but is chock-full of chemicals and additives that irritate the body, and also tends to corrupt the integrity of the original food source.

Between a whole foods, plant-based diet and the natural healing of essential oils, follow this blog as I walk toward healthy, happy, Crohn's-free living!