An estimated 1 million people suffer from Crohn’s disease and/or Colitis. I’m one of them, suffering from both. I’m not afraid to talk about my colon; everyone has one. Seriously, it’s just an organ that processes food and turns it into poop. It’s not that big of a deal. As far as I know, everyone poops too.

Most of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that come from your food are absorbed through the small intestine. Whatever is left over passes into the large intestine (colon) where excess water is absorbed. When you have Crohn’s disease, the small intestine becomes inflamed and absorbing any nutrients becomes a task in and of itself. When your small intestine is inflamed, it can’t break down foods normally, so some of what you eat isn’t absorbed into the system and just passes into the large intestine. This can cause malnutrition and a lot of diarrhea. On top of Crohn’s, I also have Colitis. My large intestine is inflamed and it can’t absorb excess water normally. This also causes diarrhea. It’s not fun.

I never took it seriously

When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s and Colitis, I never really took it seriously. My dad has Colitis and I haven’t seen him do anything to his diet. I did what he did; nothing. This was a huge mistake on my part, as the more I did nothing about it, the worse my flare-ups became. They got so bad this past month that I thought I had a serious problem outside of these two diseases. Allow me to tell you a story about my day when having a flare-up.

Ness and I would start off going to IHOP. This is perfect for me because a) I don’t have to cook, b) I get whatever I want, and c) it’s sometimes free. Sometimes I would get a salad, sometimes I’d get a breakfast sampler minus the ham, and sometimes I’d just get a turkey sandwich. After eating, Ness and I like to sit around to read our newspaper. Twenty minutes after I’ve finished eating, I have to either run to the bathroom or get in our car and speed home. I can’t hold it for the life of me. I proceed to spend an hour in the bathroom reading the newspaper, doing crossword puzzles, and anything else I can think of to get my mind off of the horrible, cramping pain I’m feeling in my stomach, on top of literally shitting out my guts.

Before I go on, let me say that there are medications for Crohn’s and Colitis, however, I don’t have health insurance. I can’t afford health insurance unless I literally starve myself each month to make insurance payments. Technically, I still “live” with my parents, so getting on any sort of state health insurance program is going to be pretty hard since my dad makes pretty good money for a guy who didn’t go to college.

Even if I were able to afford the medication, there’s always the fact that I might be allergic to the medication (which I am). So I can a) get health insurance to afford the medication and take it, even though I’m allergic and I’ll get stomach cramps, or b) not get health insurance and not get the medication and hope and pray to god that I can control my flare-ups by other means.

The first thing that needs to change

My diet is the biggest reason why I have so many flare-ups. I eat way too much greasy, fried foods, too much red meat, and not enough of everything else. On top of this, I don’t drink enough water, or anything for that matter.

I don’t get thirsty. For some reason, I’ve never had an urge to drink anything. Sometimes I forget to drink something because my body never says “Hey, asshole, drink something.” I sometimes go days without drinking anything because I forget, or I never take a time out to think if I’ve had anything to drink. And no, I’m not including beer in this, which is also another problem of mine.

No, I’m not an alcoholic, but Ness and I go out, sometimes, once a week, sometimes we go two or three weeks without going out and then we go out two to three times that week. I drink a lot of beer. Mostly because it takes a lot for me to even get slightly buzzed so I can drink and drink and I’m completely fine. The thing is though, I’ve never really gone out like that. I haven’t really partied like that and so my alcohol intake never really had any affect on my body. I didn’t get a lot of flare-ups when I wasn’t drinking, but now that I am drinking, coupled with the food I eat, makes my flare-ups even worse.

Since I enjoy having a beer, or five, with my friends, I doubt that I’ll be cutting out beer from my diet anytime soon. At least, I’m going to see if I don’t have to. If, ultimately, I still have bad flare-ups like I have been, then I’ll cut out the beer, or at least cut it down.

No more…of anything I like

The reason I never changed my diet before was because everything that I love (ie: cheese and greasy, fried foods) would have to get cut. You have absolutely no idea how much I love cheese. I can live without the greasy, fried food because I’ve done it before. But I’ve never lived without cheese. Ever. I’m Italian and I’ve grown up eating cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Almost everything I know how to make includes cheese and if you take out the cheese, it tastes like crap.

I mentioned red meat and, to be honest, I don’t really like red meat in the first place. Cutting out red meat is going to be the easiest thing in the whole world because I rarely eat it in the first place. I’m much happier eating chicken or turkey, or not even eating meat. Meat has never played a huge role in my diet because I don’t really like it.

Well, it’s not fair to say that I won’t be able to eat anything that I like. I can eat cheese, just in moderation. But definitely no meat because I’ve noticed that after eating red meat and after eating pork, I get sick. Pork isn’t red meat, technically, but it still fucks with your intestines. The key here is moderation and not an all out, eat whatever you want, thing. I need to slowly train myself to not crave the things that aren’t healthy for me.

Here’s what my diet will consist of:

• Whole grain breads - This is going to suck because I’m not a fan of whole grain. But I’m sure I’ll make do. I have to have a way to eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
• Fresh Fruit - I haven’t eaten canned fruit in god knows how long, but then again, I don’t eat that much fruit in the first place. It’s a shame, because I love fruit.
• Fresh Veggies - I don’t eat many of these either. I eat broccoli and mushrooms a lot, but that’s about it. I need to eat more of other vegetables so that my diet includes all sorts of colors. I can’t wait to get my hands on an eggplant. I can do amazing things with that.
• Yogurt - Mmm yogurt. Ok, so it’s dairy and I’m allergic to it, but after I get over the initial stomach pain from eating it, I’m regular, if you know what I mean.
• Water - Everyone that knows me knows that I hate drinking plain water. I’m going to try it with some lemon wedges because I’ve been able to tolerate that previously.

So far so good…

I’ve been doing relatively well when it comes to making better choices with foods. I drink more water, although I’m not exclusive to water. I’ve branched out to white tea, green tea, and some orange juice. I also leave room for a glass or two of soda, but soda is no longer my main source, or even close to my main source, of liquid. I haven’t quite started anything else, except the meat. I’m no longer eating read meat or pork. My snacking has become a lot healthier also. I’m eating more fruit and instead of say…kit kats…I’m eating granola bars, don’t worry I check the nutrition information, and organic rice cakes.

My caloric intake is about the same, but I’m eating foods that are lighter and healthier and won’t add to my gut. Eventually, I’d like to start exercising because it’s easier to control Colitis and Crohn’s if you aren’t over-weight.