Friday, September 12, 2008

Struggle

It is often said that in life people are defined by what they do. As humans we often get caught up in the monotony of our day to truly appreciate the gift that is life. A month ago I was on the edge of mentally breaking from dealing with UC, quite literally a prisoner chained to the toilet. These past few weeks have been so precious for me, a return to what one might call “normality”. I’ve been enjoying my training regime in preparation for my next bout, whenever it may be. September 27th was a no go due to lack of an opponent among other things.

When push comes to shove everything in life is a struggle. It’s a struggle to get out of bed in the morning, a struggle to go to work or school, to go to practice, you get the idea. My entire life I was always told what I “wouldn’t” and “couldn’t” do. Until one day I just stopped listening and started believing in myself. I believe in myself, and I believe that there is nothing that cannot be overcome in the world. I will beat UC.

RIP, Evan Tanner: “Believe in the power of one”

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Prednisone down, feelings up.

Lack of updates


Lack of updates


Well my PC went down for about two weeks and I’ve had to use my parent’s computers when I get an odd moment. The good news lately is that I’ve been tapering off my dose of prednisone from 60mg/day down to 30mg/day currently. Dropping 10mg per week. I had to stop my Lialda because I was not tolerating it, and it was in fact exacerbating my symptoms. Within two days of stopping I felt human again, and started doing all the activities I once enjoyed. I know I can’t stay on pred forever, but damn I forgot how good life was for a while. School has also started so I’m hopping this treatment will workout for me so that I can stay in school and not worry about going to the bathroom every twenty minutes. My next appointment is Oct 2nd, my doctor mentioned that about 10% of UC patients tend not to agree with mesalamine based drugs. Oh well…onto the next drug…

If you have UC you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself many questions on the simple things in life. Can I work a job? Can I get insurance? What will my significant other think? What comes next? I find myself wondering these things too. I’ve made a commitment not to be a prisoner of this disease.