By Amy Weider
Growing up with Crohn’s Disease was a mental, emotional and physical rollercoaster. Living with IBD has caused many ups and downs. I gained so many life experiences and many have not been the prettiest to say the least. Having a chronic illness forces us to endure things we aren't ready for, which often leads to much embarrassment. And for me, having Crohn’s has reinforced many times my awkward tendencies in a humbling way. As a child, I didn't understand much of what was going on inside my body and my shyness led to many possible avoidable outcomes. Not to mention in general I tend to attract those horror stories of embarrassing moments. Still today I have yet to outgrow my awkwardness and often find myself in situations where things are very cringey. I have basically become accustomed to silliness and it now takes a lot for me to blush. Embracing unfortunately goofy moments is crucial to surviving as an IBD patient. There are many stories that are headshakers that come to mind all throughout my diagnosis process. So, here are a few of the painfully embarrassing things that I have experienced through my IBD.
Puking at inconvenient times and places
For me, when I was diagnosed my biggest symptom was puking. I would go to school for about a month or two and most days would puke. I puked in the sink, in the toilet and all too frequently on the ground in front of people. Outside of school the puking mayhem continued, including me puking on a ski hill magic carpet lift where the puke continued to resurface. As well as me puking alfredo on my friends parent’s brand new carpet during a sleepover.
...and on far too many people.
I am thankful that the people in my life have loved me and accepted me even though I have puked on most of them. I remember puking in my cousin's lap often in the car which many times forced us to change in a variety of parking lots. My puking would make my sister cry because she hated puke.
Trying to stay on a diet at the age of nine.
As many so often experience, the first treatment test when trying to diagnose IBD is changing one’s diet. For me, I was going no dairy and tried it out while I was at summer camp when I was 10. I tried so hard at every meal to eat no cheese, milk, etc which was so hard for me! Then, every snack time I had an ice cream sandwich which never even occurred to me that it was dairy. SMDH!
Never wearing a bra to the infusion center.
When I switched from my doctor in my home town to one in the town I moved to for college, it was not in a hospital but rather an infusion center. Therefore, you have to wear a lot of medical gear to check your heart rate etc. This means nurses put monitors all over your body. Clueless, I showed up braless, as I do, to the doctors and they had to put all the monitors and sticky things on my body without a shirt on and everyone was rather uncomfortable in the situation. Unfortunately, I can't say this was the last time I forgot to wear one. One day I will remember.
These are just a few of the stories that come to mind when I think of the unfortunate embarrassing moments in my Crohn’s life. I love to share these stories with friends and family and be nostalgic as heck with them. Remembering the times of being dumb and goofy always brings such joy and laughter to conversations. I have grown dramatically since first being diagnosed with IBD and have learned to find much comfort in growth.