Setbacks

So, I'm into the world of cooking. I was trying new recipes, creating my own, and experimenting with techniques and ingredients.  I also started becoming thinner and weaker.  I ignored it at first and thought I was just tired from work, school, and my new hobby.  I was also running a lot and weight lifting, so that was blamed for my weight loss.  This went on for a couple of years and people thought that I had an eating disorder, throwing up, over exercising, or not eating.  None of this was true.  Then the pain started.  Lower stomach/gut pain that always occurred on my lower right side.  Doctors told me it was cramps, dehydration, or nothing at all.  I ignored it the best that I could and dismissed it as nothing.  However, other symptoms kept appearing- night sweats, fevers, body rashes, diarrhea (we're talking 20 or more trips to the bathroom daily), throwing up, intolerance to food, severe pain, and weight loss.  I was lying flat on the couch for days (except when I had to run to the bathroom) and honestly thought "this is what it feels like to die"

Finally, my symptoms were taken seriously and I was scheduled to have a colonoscopy.  Nice, I'm 29 years old and I'm having my first colonoscopy.  Everyone (including the doctor who performed it) was certain that I had nothing and this was a horrible case of IBS.  The results showed otherwise:  severe Crohn's Disease.

Huh??? What in the world is Crohn's disease??? I've never heard of it and how can I get rid of it???
WHAT??? You mean I can't get rid of it and there's no cure????

After the initial shock, I was referred to a GI doctor who explained what it is and how we can treat and suppress it.  In short, Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that can occur anywhere from your mouth to your anus and anywhere in between.  Mine is concentrated in my large intestine (colon) and my ileum (remember the lower right side pain I mentioned? That's where your ileum is).  I was put on medication after medication and nothing worked.  2 more colonoscopies later, I had no choice except to be put on an IV med called Remicade.  Remicade is extremely expensive and a pain to get- I have to spend about 3-4 hours at the hospital every 6 weeks getting my infusion.  However, since being diagnosed 2 years ago, I'm in remission! Thank you Remicade!

This is the very very shortened version of my journey with Crohn's disease so far.  Even though it's in remission, I still have symptoms and since it's a disease that's concentrated in my digestive tract, my cooking had to change.