My name is Aaron and last month I was diagnosed with “Chronic Ulcerative Colitis”. It’s a nice way of saying that you’ve become an expert at doing the 40 yard dash to the nearest toilet multiple times each day. The exact cause of UC is unknown, while there are many hypotheses out there ranging from diet, genetics, to environmental causes, no one study has been able to pinpoint the source. While the disease it self will not kill you but instead rather dramatically reduce the quality of your life. Imagine if you will having the urge to go to the bathroom, a normal person 1-4 times a day probably at the most. People living with UC can experience this urge 10-20+ times a day, you go the bathroom until there is simply nothing left short of mucus generated from the lining of your colon/intestines, and blood. Great picture right?
My treatment so far has involved taking Mesalazine (Lialda) at 4.8gm/Day in conjunction with 60mg/prednisone, a corticosteroid. The prednisone I have found changes my mood and in general makes me a more edgy person to be around. I’ve found it helpful to always take a deep breath before I respond to anyone’s questions. The good news is however that the Lialda and Prednisone make me feel normal until 9-10pm at night when my symptoms slowly return. I use this window of time to do activities I enjoy such as going to practice, lifting, or roadwork. I cannot predict how the treatment will effect my training progressions or competition schedule. I am slated to fight on September 27th at 155lbs, the prednisone is not effecting my weight all (I’ll attribute it to practice/lifting/roadwork). Hopefully I can hold it together until then or get myself into remission prior to then.
I know that prior to UC that I was definitely less humble of a person, this entire experience has definitely let me see that every day doing something we enjoy is truly a gift. I can't promise this blog will be all sunshine and roses, but it will be honest and brutally so.
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