1) Introduce yourself – Who are you, where are you from and a bit about yourself.
Hello all! My name is Collin. I live in DC, and I am a student-blogger and an aspiring pediatric emergency med doctor. I started Collin’s IBD Chronicles (my blog) this past summer as a way of sharing my perspective on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) to the community around me.
2) What illness/condition/disability do you have? What symptoms did you experience and when did your symptoms start?
I have Crohn’s Disease. My symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. They started several months before I was diagnosed.
3) What was it like getting a diagnosis? Were doctors good/bad? Were you taken seriously? Did it take a long time?
My diagnosis was super confusing, since I was only six. The doctor was excellent, efficient and compassionate. I think that really helped me in the long term, as it made me feel more accepted in the medical community. This ultimately lead me to become a pre-med.
4) Had you heard of your illness/condition/disability before you were diagnosed?
No one I knew had IBD, so no I did not know about it ahead of time.
5) How did you feel when you were told your diagnosis?
I was just confused.
6) What treatment did you have? Were there any problems? Did it help?
I started on steroids, but my parents were afraid of the side effects, like stunted growth. We considered 6 MP (Mercaptopurine ), but my doctor knew a pediatric gastro at UPenn’s Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who was pioneering nutritional therapy for IBD. The advantage was that I would only have to drink ~8 cartons of nutritional formula each day, which did not have side effects. Four of the cartons were tube fed to me during the night. The formula made up 50-60% of my caloric intake. Their hope was to alter my gut microbiome, as the gut microbiome for IBD patients is different. After several months, it worked! I was really surprised because I had not expected remission to come so effortlessly.
7) Did family/friends/colleagues take it seriously? Did they support you?
My friends did not take it seriously at all, as they were a little too young to understand the exact gravity of the disease. It was hard for them to support me since they did not seem to understand no matter how much I talked to them about my Crohn’s.
8) How does your illness/condition/disability affect your life?
It adds a lot of uncertainty as I am about to go off to college in August (and hopefully get my driver’s license…). I don’t know how to navigate college with Crohn’s Disease (CD): what should I even expect? I frankly do not know, and I guess I’ll find out in August.
9) What is something you wish people knew about it?
I wish people knew about the mental health aspect of IBD. It is often overlooked by caretakers and patients alike. Part of it has to do with the stigma that society sets up against depression and mental health in general unfortunately, and it would be helpful to be more aware of the cyclical link between IBD and mental health.
10) Anything else you’d like to share about it or your experience?
Raising awareness for IBD might seem useless/futile at times, but it really pays off in the long run. What you say really has an impact.
To learn more about Collin and his life with IBD please check out his blog and social media links below.
Blog / Website Link: collinscrohns.wordpress.com
Instagram: @collins_ibd_chronicles
Facebook: collinscrohns
Twitter: theasiangut
