Ever since I started paying more attention to how my body feels (instead of how I THINK it should feel), I’ve noticed some patterns. Sometimes the same feeling comes up over and over again, in different situations and with different causal factors. One of these is anxiety: that hot, jumpy, scattery feeling. Most of the […]
Outsmarting Yourself
6 Questions to Track Your Crohn’s Disease Symptoms
Problems are only solvable when they are known. That sounds like a “duh” statement, but think about it for a minute. Say you take your car to the shop. The mechanic pops the hood and looks around the engine. After a few minutes, wiping his greasy hands on a rag, the mechanic says: “I don’t […]
How to Quit a Bad Habit without Feeling like a Failure
How can I prevail over an adversary more powerful than? How do I overcome my arch-nemesis, the Bad Habit?
I stop fighting, that’s how.
A Cure for Crohn’s Disease
I’m going to do it, guys. I’m going to find the cure for Crohn’s disease. First, a few premises: I have Crohn’s disease. I was diagnosed over 20 years ago. At this point, “having Crohn’s disease” is a pretty entrenched part of my identity. Second, I’ve done the drug merry-go-round to manage my disease. Guess […]
Why isn’t there a cure for Crohn’s Disease?
I’m going to do it, guys. I’m going to find the cure for Crohn’s disease. First, a few premises: I have Crohn’s disease. I was diagnosed over 20 years ago. At this point, “having Crohn’s disease” is a pretty entrenched part of my identity. Second, I’ve done the drug merry-go-round to manage my disease. Guess […]
Bathroom Tax
This morning I bought a cup of coffee from a small chain restaurant in exchange for using their bathroom. I gave away the coffee. Is $2 a fair exchange rate for bathroom access? In a strictly accounting sense, probably not. But would I rather trade $2 for peace of mind and not having to go […]
The Inescapable Jail of Chronic Illness
My commute home from work has become a choreographed dance routine, a formation composed of transportation interspersed with side trips to public bathrooms. The timing works perfectly–step off the train, waddle to the bathroom, and get back just in time to catch the next train. It’s one of the many routines I’ve developed to cope with […]
50 Shades of Gut Pain
Today, or rather at 1am last night, as I sat on the toilet for the first time that night, I started to ponder all the different “moods” of my gut. There are so many of them, and I have learned to parse out their different meanings so they are very helpful to me. What I’m […]
Playing Chicken With My Own Intestines
The rumble started as I put on my shoes. I listened closer: not quite drop everything and get to the bathroom levels, more along the lines of polite gas advisory. It was time to leave. I had to make a decision. I decided to chance it. Walk to the train stop. Catch the train. Transfer […]