A Writer's Life Interrupted #crohns #ibd #uc

What is Remission?

I had a conversation with my daughter the other day about remission. The woman she works for has Crohn's and has been in remission for many years. She still gets flares but she treats them with Prednisone and moves on with her life.  She doesn't take any other drug for her condition.

I admit to being jealous.  I would like to eat whatever I want whenever I want. I thank God for Remicade because it has given me my life back, and while I can't eat what I want, I do feel MUCH better than I did before I started it, but the conversation got me thinking about remission. 

For me a definition of remission is:

1. I can eat as many chocolate chip cookies as I want and not get sick.
2. I can eat a gallon of chocolate chocolate chip ice cream without getting sick (or throwing up). Oh, all right. How about just a tablespoon of ice cream?
3. I can eat bread and rolls and pasta and tomato sauce.
4. I can eat mint or chili powder or just plain chili and/or beans with chili powder.
5. I can eat pineapple!
6. Drink milk!

Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease (some will argue this) that causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, however for clarity I do get it in my mouth and stomach if I eat something I am sensitive to. Like pineapple. Heaven forbid I should eat any even on accident.

The goal of remission is to improve quality of life (check) without worrying about running to a bathroom (sometimes check). Crohn's follows a pattern of flares followed by remissions when you are symptom free (check check).

Remission in Crohn's also means a level of healing inside (check for the colon, not so a check for stomach and small intestine).  True remission means the person feels great, the labs are great and internal tests show the inflammation has healed. (Not quite there as inflammation still remains high normal).

I think remission is when you have more good days than bad, can eat fairly well (maintain weight) and have no ulcers.  My biggest issue is stress. If I stress I get mouth sores really bad. And if I stress too much back comes the diarrhea. I have to be very careful about what I eat because I will end up blocked and that is never good and the pain that comes with it is like labor. So, I pass on the French bread and hard rolls which are my worst culprits.

Losing someone you love like I just did was bound to tickle Crohn's. I tried very hard to eat the right things, get enough rest, and hang with people I enjoy. But grief is grief and Crohn's is Crohn's and considering everything, I feel pretty damn lucky to have had a flare as minor as this one.

((hugs to all))

Louann