November is Crohn’s, Colitis, and IBD Awareness Month
By Adam Dewji
No disrespect at all to the Mos this month, but I am personally going to dedicate myself to Crohn’s and Colitis awareness, a cause that November shares with prostate cancer awareness
Many people are shy to talk about Crohn’s, Colitis, and other bowel diseases, in fear of awkward subject matter in conversations, being treated differently, or being made fun of (especially in high school). You can laugh at all the funny words in this article — in fact, I encourage you to. Laughter is great medicine. I still laugh at all the good poop jokes in the world.
Crohn’s and Colitis are two types of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs). They cause the intestines to become inflamed, and can cause ulcers. Crohn’s Disease can affect anywhere from the mouth to the anus.
IBD is a very painful realm of diseases, with often unpredictable episodes of pain, including inflammation of intestinal tissues. The diseases are caused by the body’s immune system; the body has an irregular response and attacks its own tissues. As was my experience, stress also has been correlated to triggering symptoms.
One in 160 Canadians suffer from IBD. There is no cure for it, and it is for life. Most people require lifelong medication, and after it stops working, surgery is then required to remove affected areas. Surgery is not always successful, and when the intestines are stitched back together, the disease begins to spread from the surgery site once again.
The level of pain and the symptoms are individual to each person. For instance, my older brother also suffers from Crohn’s, and we vary drastically on what foods will work with us and what types of pain we feel.
Imagine this: you have a burn on your arm and it’s been there for a week. For whatever reason, you grab a wire brush, and slowly drag it across your arm. Now, imagine that burnt tissue inside your intestines instead of on your arm, and imagine food aggravating it every time you eat. This is what many people suffering from IBD deal with in their everyday lives.
For most sufferers, IBD affects quality of life. I’m lucky to have great friends who have helped me maintain a positive outlook, but a lot of people with IBD do not have the support that I do. I hope to be able to help others through this article.
If you feel pain in your abdominal area after eating (up to 12 hours after), and it hasn’t been diagnosed, go to a doctor.
Some symptoms can turn out to be other things, like heartburn, indigestion, stomach ulcers, or other gastro-intestinal issues. They may not turn out to be Crohn’s or Colitis, but trust me: it’s damn well worth it to get it figured out now. Waiting can prolong your symptoms, and don’t be afraid to tell your doctor if you have problems in your gut or even your butt. We have free healthcare in Canada. Doctors are here with good intentions, to help us.
Before I got diagnosed, my symptoms had been lifelong stomach-aches and general discomfort after I ate. I always just thought it was the way I reacted to different foods. I then started to develop symptoms similar to someone with a gall bladder infection, where having greasy foods would aggravate my pain and nausea. Soon enough, however, other foods started to trigger these symptoms; seeing as my older brother had already been diagnosed, I was sent in for a test.
This test was nothing serious: it was painless and non-invasive. No, they didn’t stick anything up my ass to check me out. The process is called a “Small Bowel Follow-through”: I had to drink some Barium solution (in order to show up on an x-ray). After drinking the solution, they were able to look at my illuminated intestines, and point out the spot where it was narrowed and inflamed.
This article could not possibly encapsulate everything there is to know about IBD, but hopefully it sparks some interest for you to find out more. There are so many personal stories to be found: I recently had a cousin who just had surgery on his intestines after all medications failed. If you currently already suffer from Crohn’s, Colitis, or any IBD, know that it’s always worth the fight. Always.
This is a really hard question to answer, seeing as my gut randomizes what works and what doesn’t by the hour. In fact, I’ve been at a restaurant and ordered food, only to have it arrive 15 minutes later and be unable to handle it. A hospital trip and four morphine shots later, I was in bed withdrawing morphine, all because my conscience had told me to “eat it anyway” for the sake of manners.If there’s one favour that I may ask of you: please tell two other people about Crohn’s, Colitis, and IBD. My goal here is to help people understand what other people are going through when they talk about these diseases. I’m asking those who don’t have it to be tolerant; those who may have it to get checked out; and those who do have it to keep fighting — life is on expert mode for a reason, make it worth it.
