AmyIBD blogger and college GraduateHey everyone! I have Ulcerative Colitis. I made this blog to bring a smile to someones face and help spread awareness for the disease. When I was diagnosed, I went to the internet trying to find other people who were going through the same thing. That really helped me, so I'm hoping to do the same. |
My Story :)
I have Ulcerative Colitis (UC). I was officially diagnosed at the end of April 2018. However, my symptoms began well before that. I believe it was the beginning of March, maybe before, when I started seeing symptoms. I didn't think much of them, when I should have, which is why it took so long. The first time I saw a doctor for this was at the beginning of April. At that point I was well into having bloody diarrhea and intense urgency to go to the bathroom. Once I finally noticed that something was wrong, I told my mom, and she made an appointment.
The appointment was still awhile away. In the meantime, I began feeling much worse. I remember waking up one Friday morning before school in excruciating pain, and ended up going to the emergency room. The doctors ran a multitude of tests, CT's, MRI's, Blood work, basically anything you could think of. At the end of the day, they had their suspicions that it might be Inflammatory Bowel Disease and so I was sent to a Gastroenterology specialist. He then confirmed the diagnosis of UC with an endoscopy and colonoscopy.
Immediately after, I was put on Prednisone to get the initial inflammation down. This drug was only temporary since it's a steroid. I ended up having the infamous "moonface" during that time. After approximately 2-3 months, I was weaned off the medication and onto Mesalamine. This new medication only had a partial effect on me, keeping me in a steady flare that was manageable. This was not ideal. My GI doctor suggested another colonoscopy in November 2018 to determine how well the medication was working.
At that point, he decided to switch me to Humira. These are self injections that I would have biweekly. They ended up working relatively well for the time being. Though, I wasn't fully in remission and still had periodic flares. At the beginning of 2019, I was switched to another medication, Entyvio.
It took a little while for it to work, but once it did, it has been amazing. I was officially in remission in November 2019. Entyvio is an IV infusion that I receive every 8 weeks. When I began college out-of-state in August 2019, that was something we had to figure out. My school was only 4 hours away, so we decided to keep my current doctor, and come back home every 8 weeks for my medication.
It is currently July 2022. I'm now starting to build my resume to apply to Physician Assistant school next spring. Getting organized and enjoying life for the time being.
The appointment was still awhile away. In the meantime, I began feeling much worse. I remember waking up one Friday morning before school in excruciating pain, and ended up going to the emergency room. The doctors ran a multitude of tests, CT's, MRI's, Blood work, basically anything you could think of. At the end of the day, they had their suspicions that it might be Inflammatory Bowel Disease and so I was sent to a Gastroenterology specialist. He then confirmed the diagnosis of UC with an endoscopy and colonoscopy.
Immediately after, I was put on Prednisone to get the initial inflammation down. This drug was only temporary since it's a steroid. I ended up having the infamous "moonface" during that time. After approximately 2-3 months, I was weaned off the medication and onto Mesalamine. This new medication only had a partial effect on me, keeping me in a steady flare that was manageable. This was not ideal. My GI doctor suggested another colonoscopy in November 2018 to determine how well the medication was working.
At that point, he decided to switch me to Humira. These are self injections that I would have biweekly. They ended up working relatively well for the time being. Though, I wasn't fully in remission and still had periodic flares. At the beginning of 2019, I was switched to another medication, Entyvio.
It took a little while for it to work, but once it did, it has been amazing. I was officially in remission in November 2019. Entyvio is an IV infusion that I receive every 8 weeks. When I began college out-of-state in August 2019, that was something we had to figure out. My school was only 4 hours away, so we decided to keep my current doctor, and come back home every 8 weeks for my medication.
It is currently July 2022. I'm now starting to build my resume to apply to Physician Assistant school next spring. Getting organized and enjoying life for the time being.