Hey guys, I have always wanted to talk a little bit about something that is near and dear to my butt. Crohn’s Disease. Before we proceed, I will give a forewarning that what I am going to speak about is not only uncomfortable physically, on account of the symptoms and what not from the horrific disease that is Crohn’s. But I will also be delving into some of the emotional and kind of squirmy aspects of Crohn’s. I just want to try and get the info out that has helped me cope with Crohn’s. So sit down, keep your toilets close and that Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper closer, because we’re going to jump right in.

The Beginning of the Painful (rear) End

Being a 15 year old boy in high school is hard enough as it is. You have school that you really don’t want to at, friends that you’re constantly trying to fit in with, your body is changing, and on top of that you just really want to be the best at something. So imagine the disappointment that I was faced with when I was confronted by constant stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting and the most unbearable hemorrhoids on earth. When the pain started happening I was convinced it would never stop. I thought that this was going to be the rest of my life and I would have to live in constant fear of the bathroom.

After a short time of unbearable pain, I finally gritted my teeth together and explained to my mom what I was feeling. She took me into the hospital where they treated my symptoms and tried to get a diagnosis. Over time and countless tests, I came back positive with Crohn’s disease.

What is Crohn’s Disease you might ask? I’ll explain it in two different way, the first will be the way it’s described professionally through the medical field, the second is how I would describe it.

Them: A chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the lining of the digestive tract. Here’s a chart:

Me: Imagine your stomach wanting to unleash an undead space demon, that is covered in knives rolling around inside your stomach, out of your butt.

When I was first informed that I had Crohn’s, I didn’t fully know what that meant or how to deal with what I was going through. It just didn’t do anything for me. I guess it felt more like I now just knew the name of what was hurting my insides. My mom on the other hand, bless her selfless beautiful soul, was in tears. I kept getting phone calls from relatives telling me that I was going to be ok, and that if I needed anything, they would drop everything and help me and my family out with this trial. I was truly blessed, but more than anything I felt embarrassed because now everyone knows that I have some weird stomach disorder and I poop a lot. It’s not something that people really understand or know much about, heck, I didn’t know much about it and I was the one with it.

A Better Understanding

Some quick medical information about Crohn’s

It’s considered a rare disease with only 200,000 people globally diagnosed

Cannot be cured and can only be treated, sometimes causing remission

Symptoms include but are not limited to abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and fatigue

Treatments can be anywhere from strict diets to bowell recession

Treatments vary depending on the severity of the disease

Crohn’s can affect you at any age but is most commonly found in people from 15–35

Just Pushing Through

I want to share some things that I wish I or my support system had know before I got to this point where I am right now.

Understand the drugs you’re on.

This one is first because anytime I think of an already ugly and awkward 15 year old Cameron, I just remember how much more self conscious I became after taking a steroid called Prednisone. What is prednisone you might ask? “Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant drug. It is used to treat certain inflammatory diseases (such as moderate allergic reactions), some autoimmune diseases, and (at higher doses) some types of cancer.” Some symptoms of this drug can include but are not limited to; Anxiety, weight gain, depression, loss of sleep, restlessness, fever, redness of skin, nausea, vomiting, and headaches just to name a few. I really wish that someone would have sat down with me to talk to me about these symptoms because when I started taking this medicine for the first time, I got into a really dark, scary and sad point in my life. Probably the most frustrating thing about this particular medicine was how hungry it made me. I remember one time after I was on a high dosage of Prednisone for about 6 or 7 days I sat down and ate 3 Big Macs and 2 large fries… In one sitting… AND I WAS STILL HUNGRY. It was disgusting and made me feel awful about myself because I really couldn’t figure out why I was so hungry. I did the math once, and when all was said and done, after that particular spout of prednisone I had gained 65 lbs in just under 3 months. It was not good. So the first thing I could ever suggest, is just be on top of your medications and know what you can do to try and counteract the symptoms they might cause. \

2. Be Patient

As with any disease or affliction you may suffer from in this life, there are going to be good days, and there are going to be bad days. Just try your best to remember that you are not always going to be feeling the pain you are currently in, or just remember to really go out and enjoy the days that you can roam freely without having to make an exit strategy for the nearest bathroom when your internal bowel sirens start blaring. There are going to be some days where you are so frustrated in yourself because of the amount of pain you are in which causes you from being able to attend church, work and social events with friends and family. You need to know that it is ok to rest up and try to recuperate so you can be at a steady 100% instead of a steady decline in efficiency.

3. Be Consistent

If there is one thing on this planet that I am not, it’s consistent. I am not very good with routines at all. I’m more of a spontaneous person. So daily routines, such as taking my medicine and working out have never really been easy. But I can definitely preach to the fact that when I have been consistent, that’s when I have seen the biggest improvements with my health. An example of this was when I served a 2 year proselyting mission for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I had a steady healthy consistent life, with a daily routine of eating healthy, exercising and getting into the habit of taking my medication. There have been times since I have been home where I was able to fall back into this routine, for example I am a lot better at taking my medicine now then I was 3 years ago. Find a consistent schedule and stick to it. It will help you become more aware of where you need to improve, and what you can do to accomplish the things you need to.

4. Keep a Sense of Humor

Speaking as someone who has Crohn’s, I know that it’s kind of a funny disease. I mean I have countless stories where I have been in the most uncomfortable situations on the planet because of it. I’ll share a quick one with you that to this day is by far my most embarrassing moments in my life. On my mission I was with another Elder in the middle of no where, Washington. It was a very spotty day to begin with because I had been feeling ill earlier. I didn’t want to admit that I wasn’t feeling well because I knew that I would have to not work that day, and I hated not working. All throughout our study times in the morning I frequently was in and out of the bathroom, I couldn’t keep my breakfast inside my stomach. Once it was time to leave for our full day of walking around and contacting people in the local area, I truly felt there was nothing left in my system to even vacate my bowels, I was certain I wouldn’t need to use the bathroom again that day until I ate something. Boy was I wrong. It wasn’t until we were 45 minutes away from the closest public bathroom, it hit. The wall of hot flash hit my face and I had the dry sweats all over my body. My stomach got tense and I was clenching my but cheeks so close to each other I am surprised to this day I didn’t pull a muscle. I looked at the Elder I was with and he knew what that meant, we needed to find a bathroom and fast. We walked quickly to the closes house we could find and I knew this was going to be an awkward conversation. I knocked on the door, held my Book of Mormon in my hands tightly, my legs crossed as to not move suddenly, and terrified that even the most calm movement might send me over the top. A woman answered the door, and I immediately asked if I might be able to use their restroom, she hesitantly agreed and I booked it. I made it to the toilet in time and after a few minutes we were good to go. We started back onto our little journey and the sun was shining on us in a happy way. We continued onward for maybe 8–10 minutes when it hit me again. The dry sweats, the clenching, the wall of heat overcoming my entire being. I looked at my companion with what I can only imagine was desperation in the purest form. I asked him where the closest house was, and the answer was not pretty. We started running and all hope seemed lost. I started mentally preparing myself for squatting in the woods and just letting it all go. Until maybe after running for 3 minutes, we saw it. A gas station in the middle of the wooded area we were in. At this point I am clenching and sprinting all at the same time. The Elder is laughing because he know’s we are going to make it. As I inch closer I feel this stabbing pain just piercing into my gut, the first two I was able to handle well, but the third one happened to me as soon as I stepped foot onto the parking lot of this small gas station. My foot hit the pavement and as fast as you can say “wearing khaki dress slacks in the middle of winter when you have violent poops is a bad idea” I hear my companion stop running and scream with a horrified laugh and the warm sludgy poo just trickles on down my leg. I had pooped my pants in the middle of the green trees of Washington not even 35 steps away from the bathroom I was so rushing to use. That is by far the most embarrassing story involving my Crohn’s to date and I am glad I could share that with you. Just remember. Keep your sense of humor.

A Real Pain in the Ass

For me personally, I have continually felt not only annoyed but angry at the fact that the pain associated with Crohn’s, comes and goes in waves. These waves of pain are called flare ups, and they can be a real pain in the ass… literally.

It’s really hard to describe what can cause a flare up, I am a firm believer that it is different for each person. I have seen some people have theirs caused by their diets, where as mine is more caused by stressed and intensified if I am eating things i shouldn’t be at the time of the flare up. But I could handle the flare ups if they didn’t mess with my head as well.

Flare ups cause me so much anxiety and self doubt. I have always been told that I have a high pain tolerance and whenever I feel pain I should talk to someone about it because it could mean something serious. But thing is with my pain, it’s not always constant. I could wake up one morning and be totally fine all the way up until 3pm that day and now theres just an insane amount of pain. Pain so severe and debilitating that just the pain itself can cause me to vomit. But then I could lay on the floor of my bathroom for 30 minutes and that pain is gone for a little bit and then will come back just as hard. In that brief moment in time between pain is where my head starts getting crazy and I become flustered and doubting myself. Because I literally will feel normal and as if I have no pain whatsoever, which makes it hard for me to justify missing work or going unto the ER when I need to because I have myself convinced in that short amount of time that it was just a one time feeling, and that I won’t have to worry about it again. It’s rough and it weighs on me mentally as well as physically. The worst part about it, is I don’t know how to fix that.

Writers Constipation

I truly don’t know what the purpose of this article really was. I think it was mainly for me than it was for anyone else. I do think that by getting this out there and out of my head, it helps me relieve some of my stress inside and hopefully can help others.

Whether you yourself are or you have a loved one that is suffering with Crohn’s, I hope this helped you realize you’re not alone. There’s a lot of stuff that can be done to help diagnosing Crohn’s become easier and the treatments more affective.

If you have any extra thoughts you feel like I should touch on or anything like that, feel free to contact me via email at; Raburncameron@gmail.com or via Twitter @ Craveburn.

Thanks For Reading.