Hi. My name is Laura and I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was 22 although I experienced symptoms long before my diagnosis. I had many issues with stomach aches, heart burn/indigestion and diarrhea as a preteen. When I became a teenager all these symptoms went away but when I was in college they started to come back. My childhood doctor thought I had hepatitis. I underwent lots of testing but got no official diagnosis until after I graduated college. At this point I was experiencing severe pain anytime after I ate. My doctor tested me for celiacs disease and then finally ordered a colonoscopy. Within minutes I had my diagnosis. I started on Pentasa and was on this for 6 years. Then it stopped working and I started on Humira then Cimzia. I finally reached a point where I had too much damage to my terminal ileum. After being sick for so long and being on lots of steroids I finally had a small bowl resection in 2014. I have been on remicaide ever since. I travel to Boston every six weeks for a two hour infusion. My last colonoscopy showed no inflammation! I still deal with random symptoms and see my doctor every 6 months. In January I will have an MRI to see how things look. It’s not been an easy journey but I’ve leaned a lot about IBD and I’ve learned a lot about my body. My biggest piece of advise...if you feel something is not right with your body or you feel “off” , fight for yourself. You have to be an advocate for your health. Doctors may not always listen or have the right answer And you may need to push them along. I knew I needed surgery long before the doc finally said ok, it’s time. I should have fought harder. It’s a learning experience. i hope more people join this blog. It’s important to have a safe place to be able to talk about these diseases. They affect a lot of people and it’s nice to be able to talk to others to hear about their journey.
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