World F*cking Champions

So today was the Phillies parade on Broad Street to celebrate their World Championship title.  I was extremely angry because I had to work.  I work at a bar downtown so we opened at 9 am which meant not only was I missing the parade, but I had to fight my way onto the train at 7 am to beat all the people heading to the festivities.  Oh and I had to watch people get drunk all day and have what seemed like the most ridiculous day to be a Philadelphian.  To top it off, once again, I did not sleep well last night.  It's been MONTHS since I have been able to sleep through the night uninterrupted by some kind of stomach issue.

On the bright side, I made ridiculous money.  People were in a GREAT mood.  I'm thankful that at least if I had to work, I was downtown in the heart of the celebration.  Let me tell you, it was crazy for a while.  A lot of people actually opted to stay at our bar and watch the parade from TV even though it was happening RIGHT outside our doors.  I didn't quite understand that.  I was happy too because most of my friends who came to the parade stopped in to see me at some point.

But man, am I beat.  My coworkers kept asking me if I was okay throughout the entire shift.  Apparently I looked pale.  But people at work tell me that ALL the time.  I was actually legitimately concerned when my sister told me I looked pale today.  She's not one to alarm me unless she knows I need to be.

It's hard working such a crazy day like today.  I started working around 8 and went non stop until 6.  Not quite a double or anything.  But when I know I have to work that long, I don't eat.  And most of the time I'm too busy to hydrate myself.  I really have a problem with drinking enough water when I work.  When you are in an industry like I am and you are prone to dehydration anyway, it can sometimes be a recipe for disaster.  Sometimes I catch myself becoming lightheaded out of nowhere.

After realizing that I would NEVER get home on the train, my brother came down in the car because he was going out downtown and I drove home.  That took at LEAST an hour, if not more.  It was not a pretty ride home.  I was hurting, badly.  Extremely uncomfortable, stomach pain, and spasms.  But I made it.  And I have two days off to recover and hopefully....SLEEP!

By the way, Chase Utley=Best speech ever.

Just another day

I gave this blogging thing a go a while back because I realized I had a lot to say about living life with Crohn's Disease.  Then I started becoming paranoid about having my feelings out there for everyone to read.  But really I have learned so much from living with this illness and there are so many misconceptions I am constantly clearing up.  So I'm returning to the blog in hopes of keeping people informed about my life and the things I go through every day.  Heck, even some of my closest friends who have been around me for the past seven years say things from time to time that make me wonder if they were really listening all along.

So there, I'm going to give this blogging thing a try for a little bit.  

I've been in an interesting place since June as far as my disease.  From August of 2005 till June 2008 I was in remission.  Despite being in remission, I was hospitalized three times during that period.  Now you might be wondering, "How are you in remission if you are in the hospital?".  People ask me that all the time and it's hard to explain.

I had a couple of surgeries that have left me with scar tissue throughout my abdomen.  Every once in a while they like to wrap themselves around my bowel thus sending me to the ER in extreme pain.  They usually clear up in the hospital with an NG tube and ice chip diet.  Regardless, I'll take a bowel obstruction any day over an actual Crohn's flare up.  I can recover from the obstructions in a week and be back to my old self; eating burgers, drinking beer, and running.  But flare ups; they are the devil.

An actual Crohn's flare, which I've been suffering from since June, is debilitating.  Because I had been in remission for three years, I was in denial.  I knew my condition was deteriorating but I was hoping that it would get better magically.  It's been so long since I've felt the pain of Crohn's that I didn't want to believe it.  So that is where I am today.  I'm flaring, not sleeping, struggling to get through the day, and still in denial.