themighty.com
09.02.2022 / 23:03
68%
What It's Like Being Young With Crohn's Disease
About a year ago, I was coming out of surgery for my Crohn’s disease. At 21, I had made the difficult but necessary decision to remove my entire colon and live with a permanent ostomy. I was hopeful, prepared for battle and so well-supported. Truly, I handled that surgery about as well as possible. I don’t think I cried more than once. My main role, in fact, felt like making sure everyone around me was comfortable with the idea of this surgery. Even as a young kid, I was always complimented on “how well you handle your illness!” and “ You seem so on top of things!” After all, I am a senior college student with 323,987 things to do, a color-coded planner, huge dreams, and a go-getter attitude to take on the world. Most would think I do indeed have my life together. Well, guess what? Sometimes having it all together is overrated. Sometimes neglecting your emotions for the comfort of others isn’t the right thing to do. Sometimes you need to feel without apology.
