As I’ve mentioned before, TW has Ulcerative Colitis. In support of Webgrits and her blogging efforts on behalf of CCFA I’m going to talk a bit about that. Click the links, go support Kelly while she and her brother blog for the cause!
Ulcerative Colitis is an auto-immune disease and it stinks! A lot. TW takes a wide range of medicines and none of them work all that well, in fact their side effects are as bad as the disease and are often worse! The finding of medications that would help has been really rough. The first drug, Asacol actually put her in the hospital almost immediately after diagnosis, for ten days. It was not fun.
Now she’s doing ok on Imuran but it works to suppress the immune system. This means that anytime one of the kids (remember, we have a lot of kids) gets sick, TW is at risk for getting REALLY sick. Anytime someone comes to work sick, she’s at risk for getting REALLY sick. She has trouble sleeping and sometimes she has trouble staying FOCUSED.
Eating is a problem, and considering I already have problems with eating, this is a real issue. We were told upon diagnosis that there isn’t really a list of foods to avoid but have since made some food discoveries of our own. Peanut butter is not good, which is bad since TW loves Reese’s Peanut Butter cups (when they are in season). Cole slaw is also out, which is troubling because it’s one of our favorites. Greens in general are bad, again troubling since we are vegetarians. And meat is really not good but that’s ok, lol. I could go on but you’re getting the picture, aren’t you?
If you have UC (or Crohn’s) and are looking for an online support group, WebMD recently added a Crohn’s & Colitis message board that has some very knowledgeable members who are always happy to offer feedback and support.
Now that you know a bit about UC and how it troubles our lives, head over to Webgrits and offer your support during Blogathon! And pledge if you can!
