“You have Ulcerative Colitis,” the doctor explained to me.
I could sense the concern and uneasiness in my doctor’s voice as he delivered the bad news, but in that moment a wave of relief came over me. I had finally figured out what had been ailing me for the first two months of my senior year of high school. I had finally figured out the reason I had been so weak, which had led me to drop my position as captain of my high school sailing team. I had finally figured out what caused me to loose close to 20 pounds. I had finally figured out the reason for the plethora of doctors’ visits, trips to the ER, scans and scopes. I had finally figured out the embarrassing reason I was constantly leaving class for the bathroom, having diarrhea 20 times …show more content…
I began having to rush to the restroom once again, constantly worrying where the nearest toilet was on campus. My colon had become inflamed and more and more blood started to coat my toilet bowl. I called my doctor and we started to try and to get things under control. I started an aggressive steroid treatment in an attempt to quench the fire that had started in my colon. I managed to get that fire down to a smolder, but I was still terribly sick. The side effects of the high-dose steroids plagued me, from excessive hunger, relentless insomnia, and mood swings. I started to lose weight again. While my friends enjoyed their winter breaks, I spent most of it in constant worry of what to eat as to not affect my delicate colon. I couldn’t drink and be merry or let loose over break and felt unfairly deprived and isolated from getting to be a normal college kid after a challenging semester. The weakness set in once again, making me unable to take part take in simple family outings. I attempted to go to my aunt’s Christmas party, only to force my family to leave early after feeling like passing out while sitting on the …show more content…
My career aspirations of wanting to become a pediatric gastroenterologist had been solidified. I know in the future that I want to be able to help children who have my disease and others like it. A child should never have to feel what I was going through alone -- the isolation, the pain, the fear. They should have a doctor who has been through it all, and learned to tackle the indescribable feeling of losing control of your own body. I also have the unique experience of being able to research UC at U of M Medical School. These recent events have made me even more dedicated to my work. The fight to develop new treatments and diagnostic methods had become a personal one. It feels good to be conducting studies to better my life, but also all of those like me who struggle with
I could sense the concern and uneasiness in my doctor’s voice as he delivered the bad news, but in that moment a wave of relief came over me. I had finally figured out what had been ailing me for the first two months of my senior year of high school. I had finally figured out the reason I had been so weak, which had led me to drop my position as captain of my high school sailing team. I had finally figured out what caused me to loose close to 20 pounds. I had finally figured out the reason for the plethora of doctors’ visits, trips to the ER, scans and scopes. I had finally figured out the embarrassing reason I was constantly leaving class for the bathroom, having diarrhea 20 times …show more content…
I began having to rush to the restroom once again, constantly worrying where the nearest toilet was on campus. My colon had become inflamed and more and more blood started to coat my toilet bowl. I called my doctor and we started to try and to get things under control. I started an aggressive steroid treatment in an attempt to quench the fire that had started in my colon. I managed to get that fire down to a smolder, but I was still terribly sick. The side effects of the high-dose steroids plagued me, from excessive hunger, relentless insomnia, and mood swings. I started to lose weight again. While my friends enjoyed their winter breaks, I spent most of it in constant worry of what to eat as to not affect my delicate colon. I couldn’t drink and be merry or let loose over break and felt unfairly deprived and isolated from getting to be a normal college kid after a challenging semester. The weakness set in once again, making me unable to take part take in simple family outings. I attempted to go to my aunt’s Christmas party, only to force my family to leave early after feeling like passing out while sitting on the …show more content…
My career aspirations of wanting to become a pediatric gastroenterologist had been solidified. I know in the future that I want to be able to help children who have my disease and others like it. A child should never have to feel what I was going through alone -- the isolation, the pain, the fear. They should have a doctor who has been through it all, and learned to tackle the indescribable feeling of losing control of your own body. I also have the unique experience of being able to research UC at U of M Medical School. These recent events have made me even more dedicated to my work. The fight to develop new treatments and diagnostic methods had become a personal one. It feels good to be conducting studies to better my life, but also all of those like me who struggle with