I was diagnosed with mild to moderate Ulcerative Colitis.

A year ago today, I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called ulcerative colitis (UC). In particular mild to moderate UC. This is classified as irritable bowel disease (IBD). There is no cure for it yet. The disease causes chronic inflammation of the colon and is marked by urgency and blood in one’s stool. My immune system is fighting against itself. Since there is no cure the disease is managed by medication. I take 4 huge pills daily. When medicine doesn’t work anymore one has an option of getting the colon removed and getting an ostomy or a J-pouch.

In 2021, I started noticing that every time I ate, 5 minutes later I would be in the bathroom and my stomach would hurt so bad. That led to bleeding when I would go to the bathroom. It got worse. I didn’t realize I was in what is called a flare. I was always tired and would rather take a nap than eat because I felt so bad.

Went to my doctor and got referred to the GI (Gastrointestinal) doctor. I got put on some steroids and then a medication called Lialda to stop the bleeding and the urgency. I then was scheduled to do a colonoscopy to see exactly what was causing this pain and bleeding.

I had my colonoscopy on September 27, 2021. The doctor printed out the pictures from my colonoscopy and my colon was so red. No wonder my stomach always felt like it was on fire when I ate. The doctor told me that I could eat cooked vegetables nothing raw, no dairy, and no caffeine. That was hard because I love salads and I like cheese and sour cream. I don’t usually drink anything with caffeine so that was fine.

This whole diagnosis was a doozy. I was relieved to know why but at the same time I was like why I have to wait until the last few years of my 30s to get sick.

I stuck with the doctor’s recommendations. I bought dairy substitutes but it just wasn’t the same. I cooked my vegetables to death so that they were easy for my body to digest. The pain is really bad. Eating was not fun anymore. My stomach was bloated too. I only ate because I had to eat in order to take my medicine. I joined a support group. Someone suggested fasting so that your digestive system could heal so I started that. I would fast for like 16 hrs then eat in an 8 hour window. Sometimes I would fast longer but always ate enough to make sure I take my meds. I didn’t have any energy. Since my digestive system is broken so to speak makes it hard to absorb nutrients.

I started making soup to eat because that was easy to digest. I would alternate from vegetable and chicken and rice.

I kept this up and made sure to note what made my stomach hurt. Sometimes the same food can hurt your stomach depending on the day. I had to find my safe foods.

This disease makes you feel fatigue a lot. Different tasks took a lot more energy now than before. There are many days that I would like to just stay in bed because of how I am feeling. I made it a point to not let this diagnosis take me out mentally. I make sure to try and be pleasant even when I don’t feel good. I got so many things I want to do and places I want to see! I make sure to get up out of the bed, get into the shower, put on my clothes, make my bed and go on. I push myself a little extra sometimes to get things done.

A few months ago, I had some tests to see how My body is doing. My tests were stable and my inflammation levels were normal. I thank Jesus for the healing that is taking place! My hope is that I am on the road to remission and don’t have any bad flare ups. I really look forward to not being fatigued and no pain. I hope that my digestive system gets back to normal functioning. In the meantime I’m going to continue to live victoriously and give God praise! Thank you for reading!