Note: Ershad’s primary language is Kurdish and thus some of his original article has been adjusted for clarity with his consent.
Hi, I'm a 19-year-old boy from Iran.
I have been diagnosed with IBD for about 9 months. It dates back to two years ago. It was in the middle of summer that the symptoms started and I was inattentive. I told myself it was nothing special but after a month, the symptoms got worse and we went to the doctor. I'd better say doctorS!! Many doctors came and went, but none of them worked. The first doctor we went to told us that it was nothing special. He wrote some herbal pills and told me to go home and it will get better in the next few days.
After a week, I saw more severe symptoms with blood. When I explained the matter to my mother, she was very upset and told us to go to another doctor quickly. We rushed to another doctor, and after a few tests he said, “Your liver enzymes have increased too much. You should be hospitalized.” We were very confused and my mother used to say, "We're here for a stomach ache, while you are talking about liver enzymes!!” The same day we went to another doctor, he also did some tests and CT scans and said let's come back after receiving the answers. The next day, after checking the results, he said that my intestines were inflamed and my liver enzymes increased. He wrote a prescription and said to take these medicines and come back for an examination a month later. After two weeks those drugs didn't work either, but my liver enzymes were at their normal level. The reason for their increase remained a secret!!!! We decided to go to another doctor. After the examination, he told us to have a colonoscopy as soon as possible. The doctor told me to go out so he could talk to my parents alone. After a few minutes, my parents came out and my mother was crying. I was very upset and asked, "What did the doctor tell you?" My parents said nothing in response.
I started researching the Internet about my symptoms. And I wondered if I had bowel cancer? Then we went for a colonoscopy and found that a colonoscopy with anesthesia was available in another city about 300 kilometers away. We set out for that city called Tabriz. And after the colonoscopy, the doctor told us that I had IBS. He wrote me a prescription with some medicine and told me to come back for an examination two months later. During these two months, the abdominal pain was relatively good. Later, for some time, the drugs I was taking did not work and one of our relatives suggested another doctor in Tabriz.
Finally, when we went to this doctor, he diagnosed me with an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through colonoscopy and some tests. And now I'm taking Mesalazine. He suggested that I reduce the amount of food I ate at each meal and increase the number of meals throughout the day, and to exercise more. He also advised me to get a good night's sleep. Following this doctor, I was able to relieve the symptoms of the disease within forty days, and my illness remained silent for four months. Once the coronavirus became global and we were quarantined at home, my sleep schedule was disrupted. And for about three months now, all the symptoms of the disease have returned. It has reached a point where my intestines are not responding to the pills. I hope that the world will return to normal as soon as possible and that I will be able to see a doctor again.
I know this disease has a negative impact on life. But I learned from these negatives that no medicine can be like “hope.”
Keep the human standing!
I learned that anyway.
And you have to love all the time
Even in times of fatigue, illness and despair
I learned to fight forever for the life
He closes his eyes to what he have
Sometimes you have to live with peace of mind
Get rid of every battle and defeat
people love to count their problems
But they don't count their pleasures
Always take into account what you have, not what you lose …
