-A lil background and info on why I’m such a gym and health nut now.-
Judging by what other people do in blogs, I should just post random thoughts and
ideas as they come to me. Seems kind of redundant, since there are forums and progress trackers (which I love) on BodySpace. I guess I’ll make my BodyBlog a written account of my fight against Chron’s disease. I’d definitely like to think I am winning now, and gotta keep trucking because I don’t want to go back to "before treatment me".
For background I’ll tell you a little about Chron’s, in case you want to know but don’t want to Google it. Chron’s Disease is a chronic inflammatory disease. It’s almost like a version of "anti-AIDS" (keyword- anti). My immune system was a bit hyper active and started destroying my intestines. So my intestines and stomach start getting ulcers all over, and then everything was swelling up and getting rigid. After the internal camera session, they showed me large intestines lined with fissures, and my small intestines were actually swollen shut in some areas. In a few spots the food had started to push through the sides of the organs and kind of tunnel towards other organs. I couldn’t tell you how many things my blood work said I was missing! Not much is known about why it happens or what triggers the problem. Maybe just unlucky genes or maybe too much vitamin C! Either way, I was in SC for the Navy when the symptoms started. It was all downhill from there.
It started with a bunch of minor symptoms, which the Corpsmen said was probably a minor ulcer or hemorrhoids, and gave me a few tips on how to stop it. Every few months I would come back due to the constant pain and "digestive problems". Skip the rest of this paragraph if you easily lose your lunch…….. I kept puking up my food almost immediately after eating. Not every time, but a few times a week. It was random, and of course it never happened while I was at Medical. Sometimes it was full of blood, which were the times I went in for professional help. Once or twice I was given Ibuprofen.. which turns out, upsets ulcers, IBS, Chron’s, and lots of other bleeding problems. I was also having a bit of blood out the other end, and was slowly losing weight, even though I was eating more than usual (free Navy food), or about 4000cals/day. I started at about 180lbs and ~12% fat.They told me to come back in a few months.. yadda yadda and sent me on my merry way. I was a bit annoyed, but soon I was changing commands. Eventually I got out to a ship. The mighty Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN-69). Things had slowly gotten worse, but slowly enough that I had somewhat gotten used to them. I didn’t ever look in the toilet anymore, and I was used to going about 5 times a day. I was always in a lot of abdominal pain, but again couldn’t get any treatment. Usually, as a Nuke especially, you can’t even make it to the 1hr sick call on a carrier, and if you could, the line was so long you didn’t get to see anyone before they send everybody away. So I was basically on my own, and tried to figure out what I was eating that was causing it. I kept trying to avoid certain things, but to no avail. I am sure that the nasty UHT milk hurt me pretty bad, but everything else just had trouble staying down or went right through me. The cockroach infested cereal, the black eggs, the brown salad, the "fuzzy" bread… I probably held it down almost as well as everybody else, but with a LOT more effort. I was constantly waking up to go to the "head," and when you’re only getting 5hrs of sleep a night out to sea, if you’re lucky and there aren’t any drills, it really wore me down. I was always dead tired and my eyes were bloodshot to hell. People kept telling me I looked sick. My gf said I had bags under my eyes, I was pale. My family (when I got to see them) kept remarking how I never finished meals anymore, I wasn’t very talkative, looked thinner, and I was always frowning. I definately couldn’t do anything physical. I tried playing soccer and I would usually just end up puking 2 or 3 times a game. Some of my friends even got used to me puking all of the time, and knew when to keep their distance. Same with paintball, I’d have to rush off the field, lift my mask, and puke all over, usually with some red swirls in it. I kept losing weight, feeling really weak, and having trouble staying awake quite often. My gf even thought I was buhlemic for awhile since I always went to the bathroom and came back smelling like mouthwash after we ate out. A little while after I ate and kept most of it down, I could feel the pain starting to build and would have to stop just about whatever I was doing. Then my gf would start worrying, so I’d pretend I was fine, say I was tired, and just go to sleep early. The pain sometimes felt like my intestines were ripping apart, and it made all kinds of wierd squishy and popping noises behind my belly. Sometimes the pain was really sharp and lower down, so I knew I had to run to a toilet and wait….
Then I got to a new ship, the George H W Bush (CVN-77 precom unit). I was down to 130lbs and under 4% fat. The Corpsmen there did what they could but had no idea really. At PT I would always have to quit in the middle of our 30min run to use the bathroom. I still finished 4miles almost every time though! Sometimes I puked, sometimes I SPEWED! My fiance was always worried about me, and the changes she had seen since she moved in with me and could see how bad it really was.
Finally, the first Medical Officer checked on board. She almost instantly narrowed it down to Ulceritive Colitis or Chron’s Disease. She referred me to Gastroenterology. After 3 months of waiting for an opening on their schedule, I got to see Dr Arluk at the Naval Hospital. Great guy. He immediately had me sedated and shoving cameras inside! The next day they told me I had BAD Chron’s Disease and recommended I get off of the ship, and go LimDu. They also told me I was probably done in the Navy. The risk of my intestines rupturing while out to sea was too high, and they definately didnt have the expertise or tools necessary for surgery out at sea.
At that time I was now down to 125lbs. I was super anemic, losing some hair, yellow/reddish eyes, pale, joint problems, no cholesterol (good or bad), a hemopheliac, and had lots of other malnourishment related problems.
About 18 months later, I’m about to medically retire from the Navy. I’m back over 160 lbs, hold down almost all of my food, and I’m actually able to run around and be active. I can’t push it for fear or ripping my intestines in two or upchucking (it happens, especially after the gym), but it’s certainly not as bad as before. I only get severe pain every so often, and I think my big intestine is pretty rarely sore or swollen. The steroids helped me gain a little weight, but caused a ton of other problems. I had to fight the Navy changing it’s mind several times about whether or not to boot me and how. Had to move to the other side of the water to wait for the upper brass to make it’s decision. Now I just go in for regular checkups, abdominal scans, bone marrow testing, contrast injections, barium shakes, and take lots of supplements to help me keep healthy. I even eat pretty well, just a LOT because I don’t absorb a lot still, and I definately want to regain all of my original muscle, and then keep going.
I’m sure I’ll post a few more times on the subject, and it will always be in the back of my mind, keeping me from living completely healthy, and making it hard as hell to gain any kind of weight. One day… I’ll break 180 (at 5′10) and start showing off like none other!
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