Obviously I have lost contact for almost 10 years lol! I'm so happy I found this blog again. Reading these posts from 10 year old me has given me a new perspective. I thought I might give y'all an update on what happened the past nine years (summed up lol)!
As far as Crohn's, I had at least 10-15 more flares throughout the years. Each one needing surgeries and recovery time. In fact, my sophomore year of high-school I missed over 50 days due to flares, strep throat, mono, and other conditions caused by Crohn's. I am no longer on Remicade. I switched to a self injection about 2 years ago called Humira. It's a shot I give myself every week. In a way, it's more convenient because I do not have to go to Dallas every month to get an infusion. Let me tell y'all, these past 10 years were filled with hardships and pain. But I wouldn't want it any other way. You see, it gave me a passion for helping people. It gave me a faith in my God knowing He would always provide. It provided me an outlook on life that I will never forget. I've learned to enjoy the simplest of things. Never take anything for granted because you never know when it's gone.
I remember my ten year old self looking at what I had to deal with like, "How am I ever going to live like this?" Now I can tell that little girl that God provided and everything turned out just fine. I am SO blessed in that aspect.
I want to update y'all on where I'm at in life as well! I graduated high school in May of 2019 and started at The University of Texas at Tyler in Fall of 2019. Because of my disease, it has given me a solid career choice to become a nurse and help people when they are at their lowest. I plan to graduate in 2021 with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. I currently work at a hospital as a Nursing Assistant and get to do the hands-on patient care. Doing so has rewarded me so much and only confirmed my passion.
As far as my first GI doctor, we had to change because I aged out of Pediatric care. We switched to one closer to home so we wouldn't have to go to Dallas. We were very sad about that but we knew it had to happen so he could take on another sick child.
I'm really glad I found this blog again! Seeing these old posts is really rewarding for me. I can reassure myself that everything turned out okay. :)
As usual, if you have any questions or just need encouragement, please let me know! Thanks for taking the time to read!
Love,
Caroline
