We had our first meeting of an IBD support group through Health Education Services this week and it was very successful. We only had five people (including me, a former roommate who had a colectomy for UC, and a nurse from Health Education Services) but we didn’t put up many fliers and it was our first meeting, after all. Still, one student with Celiac Disease saw a flier and was brave enough to attend. It turns out her roommate has Ulcerative Colitis. I really do not know why people who suffer from digestive diseases seem to end up as roommates. I met the roommate with UC, Meredith, and she is an inspiring person who doesn’t let a terrible disease ruin her life like you might think it would.
Meredith is a junior at Georgetown and she was diagnosed with UC about eight months ago. She had a really severe case of colitis, toxic megacolon, which can be fatal. Needless to say, she was in the hospital for two months on dilaudid and almost had an emergency colectomy on a few occasions (with toxic megacolon, sometimes it’s a colectomy or death). I am sure that this was much, much worse than anything I have ever experienced. She dropped a few of her courses and finished two over the summer. She survived on picc lines and IV nutrition. When she was released from the hospital, she was on incredibly high doses of narcotics …but she finished her courses anyway. Meredith eventually responded to cylcosporine, a drug that prevents transplant rejection (an autoimmune-related issue, just like UC) Humira (shots of immunosuppressants that I took as well at one point but did not respond to), and 6-MP (a form of imuran, an immunosuppressant drug, that enabled me to come back to school the semester before I got surgery).
Amazingly, Meredith went to Rome last summer with Georgetown’s chapel choir. Although she was very afraid and had to show her chubby prednisone face to the world, she was able to have a great time. Instead of clubbing with the other trip members, she went back to the hotel to sleep. She is now back at Georgetown and has to take oxycontin and oxycodone to make it through the day (one is fast-release and the other is slow-release). She is still taking the cancer-causing combination of Humira and 6-MP. She doesn’t eat wheat, dairy, or sugar. It is easy to discern how incredibly difficult her life is, but she still has a great attitude. She is even planning to study abroad next summer in Egypt. I don’t doubt that she could do it. I was so impressed by her courage and perseverance. So there’s a little inspiration for you.
On a slightly related note...
