Saving Graces

Anyone who deals with chronic GI issues can imagine the unpleasant nature of Crohn's Disease. And, like with most diseases, there are good days and bad days. However, in the last couple of weeks, the bad days have been adding up, spilling over to bad nights as well. Staying up all night, making multiple trips to the bathroom, sometimes being forced to use a trash can to puke in can be difficult. And there are a number of other issues as well. My stomach is very very sensitive, let's say. So Glenn will ask me what I want for dinner, get me as comfy as possible, then start on making the meal. By the time the food is ready, I am often too nauseous to eat. And after making a lovely dinner for me (that I can't eat), my hubby will then eat in the kitchen so that the smell doesn't add to my puking. Being fairly close to a saint, Glenn also wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears my retching, to hold my hair back and clean up the mess. He has stood guard outside of many public restrooms, both men & women's, while I got violently sick. He has taken off of work to drive me to the hospital countless times, waiting for me to come out of recovery, making sure the doc gives me pain meds for the ride home, and packing the car with clean towels, wet wipes, and basins, just in case. He also knows that my RV fistulas (a CD bonus!) are extraordinarily painful for me. So when the fistulas are active, he makes me baths with witch hazel, carries my donut pillow everywhere we go, and drives very gently over all rail-road tracks. I guess the point of my rambling is this: Glenn has done so much more than tolerate the toll that CD has taken on our lives. Through the unpleasantness that is CD, Glenn has loved me brilliantly, making the bad days better and the good days incredible. With every symptom, every flare-up, every med, every procedure, every everything, Glenn has cared for me in a way I didn't even know was possible.

What makes me even more blessed is that I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful sister. And while Jen E Fur might not physically be with me every day, she, too, is a constant source of encouragement and understanding. She emails me with any new treatments on CD that she can find, natural, medical, and otherwise. She contacts others with chronic illnesses, telling them my story, in search for additional emotional resources for me. Jennifer is so loving and caring, putting up with my irritability, my med side effects, and all the crap that can be me. Every single day of my life is better because she brings sunshine to me in the form of an adorable little monkey face smile. So, to all of you going through difficult times, hold close to those that love you, and take time to count your blessings. I know that my life is richer because of two very special people, my hubby & my sis. THANKS YOU GUYS!!! Love ya lots, Beth