After the Big Surgery, I was in remission for 9 years. No symptoms, no meds, no nothing. For the first time in years, I felt well and could do what I wanted.
Two years ago, I started feeling not well. I wasn't as sick as the first time, but I knew something was wrong. It took a while and a capsule endoscopy to find that my Crohn's was active again.
In order to function day to day, you have to put the thought of relapsing out of your mind. If you obsess over it, you will make yourself sick. The last thing someone with Crohn's needs is anxiety and stress.
I put it out of my mind too well, because the diagnosis of the relapse threw me for a loop. I'd begun to think that maybe I wouldn't get sick again, even though that is very unlikely for a person with Crohn's disease. Although you have to be optimistic to survive, I had become unrealistic. I crashed hard.
It took a while, but now I'm being optimistically realistic. It also helped to have the tremendous support of my boyfriend, my brother, and my family. Relapse is a blow, but not one that can't be survived.
Comments