A Chronically Magic Vacation

"Can I get the chicken fingers and fries?" "Kids or adults?" 

I just got back from an amazing family vacation. That's right. I went to Disney World. It was a dream come true. I did rides, saw princesses. experienced countries in Epcot, stayed at a resort, I couldn't have asked for a more fun time. Unless of course I could have been healthy during it.

Despite the fact that I prepped for the vacation by doing a course of IV steroids for preparation, staying on a good 50mg of prednisone each day. I took my medications religiously, but yet somehow I got sicker while I was down there. 

The first couple of days I went ham. I walked up to 5-6 hours a day, stayed out late with my dad, and had a blast. Doing this, I burnt out quickly. by the third day I started getting so much pain, having to use the bathroom a lot and got totally exhausted after only a few minutes of walking. After a particularly bad episode of pain only at about 9am, my family convinced me to allow them to rent a wheelchair for me. I wasn't pleased. I hate it when my disease can impact my life like that. 

Being sick in the most magical place in the world, was quite an experience. As much as it sucked, there was an element of humour around the whole thing. I turn 20 at the end of July (I know, big deal.) but due to my baby face, short height, and small stature (a lot of which is caused by my Crohn's) I look a lot younger than I am. The most recent guestimation of my age was 14....

I milk it and I'll appreciate it when I'm older. 

However, put me in a wheelchair, in Disney World, add on my young look, pale/sickly complexion, and the tiny tiara I stuck in my top knot of thin hair, I was treated literally like a child. Employees gave me sympathetic smiles, wished me to have a "Magical Day" at every corner, and held out giant push Mickey hands asking for high fives... I was tickled that they thought I was so young.

I highly doubt if I actually looked 20 years old, or at 16 but healthy, they would have talked to me in that sing song overly peppy voice. I didn't mind it though, they were doing their job, selling the magic. 

And despite the fact that I couldn't walk for over half the vacation, I still had a magical time. 

I'll be back to the daily posts now!    

Meat and Potatoes

"So you must have to be really careful about what you eat then, eh?" "Well, it depends."

When people think of eating to be healthy, they tend to immediately picture fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Mmmmm....nothing like a hot delicious salad! 

However, when you have active Crohn's disease, you would probably be better off pouring battery acid down your throat and praying for mercy. 

When I'm in a flare, I eat what would be considered the most unhealthy diet imaginable. Low fibre, high sodium, high fat, high carb, no dairy. 

White bread is my staple food, it makes up about 40% of my diet alone, followed closely by white rice. I eat sandwiches on white bread, with sliced turkey and a swish of mayonnaise at least once, if not twice a day. I rely on bacon, eggs, hot dogs and smoked salmon for protein. I have to limit my produce intake to about one serving a day, except for bananas, they're ok. Apples, broccoli, spicy foods like curry and thai food, cabbage, turnip, and carrots are completely off limits, all of which I learned the hard way. 

Although this diet may seem like every 8 year olds' dream, it gets bland pretty quickly. Every once in a while I give in a have a humungous stir fry or salad, and pay every bit of the price. Let me tell you, usually, it's worth every penny. 

This is what I've found affects me when I'm in a flare, no one's disease is the same. Other people I know live off of Boost and Ensure when they're sick. Other people go with steak and potatoes. This is just my own experience.

 But there is something you have to understand. Foods can worsen or trigger symptoms, but they cannot put you in a flare. Eating a piece of broccoli cannot warp your immune system into attacking your digestive system. That's just silly. 

When I'm well, I have so much more freedom with my food choices. I can have salad with my supper, berries on my oatmeal and just about as much melon as my heart desires. I still tend to avoid my trigger foods, but when my disease is in remission and under control, the reigning hand of the heart unhealthy diet loosens its' grip on my colon. 

The Downward Spiral to Diagnosis

"I have to use the bathroom" "Again?"

It started when I was 11. I remember the exact moment I first felt Crohn's pain. I was at choir camp. It hurt, but somehow I knew I needed to use the bathroom. So I did, and it went away. I thought nothing of it. But it happened the next day. And the day after that. And every day for the next year, every time I had to use the bathroom. 

This sign is my saviour.

I was ok. I coped all through grade 6. I did well. Then after school ended for the year, everything changed. I started having more pain, I was tired all the time, I had to get up to use the bathroom multiple times a night. I had no appetite. I started using the bathroom over 12 times a day, because of this I started losing weight rapidly. By the time I was diagnosed I had plummeted to a scary 85 pounds at my current adult height. I was so pale, and I started passing blood when I went to the bathroom, making me feel even worse. It got to a point where I ate half a sub for three days. Not half a sub each day, one, six inch sub for three days. I began to have the most excruciating pain when I swallowed anything. Even water. If you've ever swallowed a potato chip  and had a sharp edge drag down your throat, you know, the pain radiates to your chest and back and you can't breath. That was the kind of pain I had every time I swallowed.

My parents knew something was very wrong, so they brought me into our family doctor who ordered blood work. I cant remember what the results were, but they were not good. In less than two weeks I had an indium scan done. It's this test where they take a ton of your blood, dye your white cells with radio active dye, put them back in you, then take XRays. The dye makes you light up like a Christmas tree in the spots where your white cells go.

That test was enough to convince the doctors at the hospital that I needed an endoscopy and colonoscopy almost immediately. About two weeks later I had that done. I remember being terrified of going into the operating room alone, worrying that I would have to wake up in the middle of the scope to use the bathroom... I obviously did not have a clear understanding of how anaesthesia works. 

When I woke up I was taken to a hospital room, and my parents quietly told me that I was probably going to have to stay at the hospital for a few days. I cried when they said that. Then, the gastrointerologist that had performed the scope on me came in and said the rock solid words that would change me forever: "Yes, you have Crohn's Disease". 

Jack Mercury

"Some people are born sick, some people achieve sickness, and some people have sickness thrust upon them." - Not Shakespeare. 

I'm Jack Mercury, and I had sickness thrust upon me. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease two weeks after I turned 12. That was almost 8 years ago. This unpredictable, chronic, and morbid condition has impacted me in ways that I never imagined possible and it's time to share it.

This blog will entail chronicles of my life, as someone who continues to pursue life, despite all of my challenges.

When you're sick, your perspective changes. So here is mine.

Thank you for stopping by. Be sure to check out my youtube channel: chronicallybeautiful12