My Diagnosis Story

For as long as I can remember, I have always used the complaint "I have a tummy ache" to get out of things or just to complain for the heck of it. I repeated it over and over again to the point where nobody believed me and they just thought I was doing it for attention. I don't blame them, I got pretty annoying...

Summer 2014, the summer right before my final year of high school: my mom, siblings and I went up to my best friends cottage for the weekend. On the second night up, we were eating popcorn and watching Ella Enchanted. About half way into the movie I went to my mom and complained about my stomach hurting. I remember being arched over and whining about how much it hurt. Neither of us were sure what to do, I ended up falling asleep on the couch that night, unable to move from the excruciating pain. A few weeks leading up to this incident, I had complained to my parents as well and this time they said "We will set up an ultra sound for you, to see if there is anything wrong". So when I got back to the city, I had an appointment set up. 

The morning of my appointment, I was not at all scared or nervous, because I didn't think anything was seriously wrong, I wasn't really sure what I was expecting from all of this but I kept telling myself that is was probably nothing serious. I can still feel the cold gel on my stomach and the doctor rolling the sensor on my stomach and pushing really hard to get all the spots. They kept calling in other doctors to look at the imaging, not really informing me what was going on. I just laid there awkwardly and waited patiently for them to say: oh, we did not find anything, you can leave now. Finally after what felt like hours, they told me that they would contact my parents, and I was free to go. On my way home from the hospital, I decided to walk home. I loved walking in the summer, I walk everywhere. On my way home, I stopped at Starbucks because I had a free reward! I got a venti caramel machiatto; when I was waiting for my drink, I got a call from my dad telling me that maybe I should hold off on the coffee for now and that the doctors said my stomach was inflamed. He then told me he would tell me more details at home and not to worry. So I did not worry. I went on my way.

We (my parents and I), met with a gastroenterologist shorty after my ultra sound. She explained to us, that they wanted to do two more tests (MRI and colonoscopy/endoscopy) but from what they could see, it looked like I had Crohn's disease. I remember just sitting there, not really phased because I was not sure what that meant, I looked over at my parents who were both looking over at me with sad looks on their faces. So then I got a bit sad, the doctor starting to explain the disease to me, and she reassured me that I would be fine and there was medications to treat it. However, one thing stood out to me from what she said that day, and that was: there is no cure for Crohn's.

Next up, I had my colonoscopy/endoscopy, this procedure took up a whole day so I had to miss school for it. The night before the procedure I got to drink this horrible drink that flushes out my intestines. They have different flavours, but let me tell ya,  none of the flavours taste good. My mom got me orange and cranberry (the only available ones) and every time I took a sip, I gagged. The next morning, I had to drink it again... it was awful. I was put to sleep for this procedure so I got my first ever IV!!! I hate needles and IVs are injected in the worst spots, they hurt so bad and my first experience with them was unfortunate. My anesthesiologist was a very nice man, all my doctors were super nice. When I came into the procedure room, they were talking to me and making conversation trying to distract me as they taped and stuck all these things on my body. When he started to poke me with the IV, I was fine, it hurt but I was fine. First try: did not go in. Second try: it was not going in and I starting crying because it started to sting. Third try: still no luck. Fourth and final try, finally, after being poked three times, the fourth try is successful and very very painful. I fell asleep seconds after the final poke and woke up to my mother sitting beside my hospital bed.

Finally my MRI. I remember being a little nervous for this test, it was at night which did not help my mood. I had to wear one of those hideous hospital scrubs and had to get another IV. I hate IVs, I have gotten multiple and I will admit that the anticipation is the worst part, but I just hate them. On top of having to get an IV, I had to drink another different liquid that would 'light up' my intestine and my digestive tract so it would be easier for the doctor to see. The nurse let me choose a flavour of Crystal Light so it would be more tolerable for me to consume. There was a whole lot of liquid. Let me paint this picture for you, imagine a small area in a huge hospital that is closed off, with a father and daughter sitting there waiting for their turn to go in. There was nobody else there, it was deserted, the desks were closed, most of the lights were off and I was sitting there, oh ya, I had to lay on my side... So I laid there on my side drinking this drink while my poor dad waited with me. Finally, it was my turn, the doctor shows me the MRI and shows me other machines thinking I am interested in all of this, but in my mind all I was thinking was that I wanted to go home and sleep. He explained what I had to do, which was just lie down in the machine and don't fall asleep... When I was done, I was relieved, he took me out of the machine and the second I sat up, I felt dizzy, I felt nauseous, I did not feel good one bit. I stood up and knew that I was going to fall. We walked out of the door and I fell in my dads arms, and started to vomit up all that liquid, my dad rushed me to the bathroom where I proceeded to vomit all over the bathroom floor and toilet... When I was done, the doctor told my dad that I needed to rest. We left, me still in my hideous hospital scrubs because I had no energy to put my regular clothes back on. The next morning, my parents did not expect me to go to school after the incident that happened the night before, but oddly enough, I felt fine. Which was surprising but felt good. 

I went back to my doctors office to get the confirmation that I indeed have Crohn's disease, and I got put on medication for it.