There’s Something Going On Here 

I grew up a very confused kid. I never felt healthy and I kept it from my parents, as I was terrified of doctors and hospitals. 
 
By 2010, I was 12 years old and couldn’t hide it anymore, it was no secret that I was very, very sick. My mother had a notebook filled with all my symptoms. She presented it at my specialist appointment and as he read through it, I remember feeling relief that maybe this was the start of my journey to feeling better. He sighed and gestured towards my stomach and said, “there’s something going on in there”. 
 
That phrase became something many doctors over the years would tell me, as my particular case was a huge question mark. 
 
Later on in 2011, I finally got the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. The doctor pulled my mum into a room and said “Well! It’s right through her!” 
 
My disease was moderate from my oesophagus, through my bowel, and severe in my perianal area and rectum. 
 
I was 31kg in year 9 of high school. I was fading away and no medications were working for me. At the time, my type and area of disease was hard to treat. I was put on infliximab infusions and told that if this drug failed, ostomy it was! My doctors made my parents aware that there was not much research done on whether infliximab is helpful in treating severe perianal Crohn’s disease, and to not get our hopes up. 
 
To everyone’s surprise, by my 3rd infusion I was a completely different kid. I started gaining weight, energy and feeling normal again. Some days I would even forget that Crohn’s was even a thing. It was unbelievable. 
 
Infliximab eventually stopped working and I was put on Humira injections, along with monthly operations to stretch out a stricture I have in my bowel. 
 
I am now 24 years old and to this day still face challenges that come with Crohn’s every single day. What has changed is that now I absolutely adore the person being sick made me be. My childhood was spent in hospital beds, in the operating theatre and in bed at home, isolated but I became compassionate, empathetic, FUNNY and someone who understands suffering and the importance of health. 
 
No one with IBD knows what is around the corner, but what we know is that we have guts, and the ability to face anything thrown at us head on. 

Written by Isabella Suta