I don't feel good. Not in the sense of the common cold, or even the flu. My body just doesn't feel good. My noggin', my throat, my stomach, my legs, my joints, my voicebox, my everything just doesn't feel good. If you saw me looking like this, would you believe me?

It's okay, you can say no. Most people do. That's exactly why I usually keep it to myself when I don't feel good. To give you a little example of what I deal with on a daily basis, I'll compare my pain to everyday life 'things'. Imagine you being set on fire inside your stomach, and someone pours hot sauce all over for an entire day. That's what my tummy feels like. Imagine your bones are two pieces of sandpaper constantly rubbing against each other while being stung by a bee over and over. That's what my bones feel like; every single one of them. Imagine your throat being slowly cut open my a dull scissors. That's what my throat feels like when I have ulcers form on my voicebox. It's super fun, and I highly recommend everyone trying this. (I'm totally kidding, and don't advise anyone to do so. Everyone handles their pain differently, and I just like to humor mine so it's not so bad.)

Dealing with Crohn's Disease isn't just physical; it's mental, psychological, and emotional pain. It's waking up in the morning not knowing what the day will be like. It's not knowing if you're going to make it sitting through an hour's worth of class. It's feeling embarrassed for being in the restroom so long while shopping with your friends. It's draining emotions sitting and waiting for your doctor appointments. It's getting told you're fake, and a liar for saying you're "sick." It's feeling bad for missing classes because you physically cannot leave the house.

I had just dealt with a situation like this last week. The receptionist of the office where my medicine gets shipped to weekly had failed to refrigerate my Humira properly upon arrival. Now, let me remind you that the Humira box itself says, "Refrigerate Upon Arrival" and "Temperature Sensitive Product" multiple times around it. If you take Humira yourself, you know damn well where this story is going. Because my medicine wasn't taken care of, I had missed out on three weeks worth of shots. I'm supposed to be shooting Humira once a week. Usually I can handle one week of missing medication if I have to, but three weeks worth of pain was almost too much for me. I have a really high pain tolerance when it comes to Crohn's, and it was really tested the last three weeks. I had missed multiple classes, and club get-togethers due to this situation.

Every teacher on the first day of school always says, "Please let me know if you have any disability, or need any accommodations throughout the semester, I'm happy to help." But do they really mean that? I've been ignored by teachers because they don't always believe someone can be in so much pain or feel so sick that they cannot attend classes for more than one day. How's that for "I'm happy to help!"? Being a student to most people who are very uninformed of this disease is very frustrating. Being a peer of classmates that are uninformed of this disease is also very frustrating.

Since most people have no idea what Crohn's Disease is, I'll take some time to educate you from www.crohnsandcolitis.com.

"Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the digestive, or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In fact, Crohn’s can affect any part of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it is more commonly found at the end of the small intestine (the ileum) where it joins the beginning of the large intestine (or colon). It can also affect your eyes, skin and joins." "It’s important not to confuse an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is a disorder that affects the muscle contractions of the bowel and is not characterized by intestinal inflammation, nor is it a chronic disease."

So, who get's Crohn's Disease?

Up to 20% of people with Crohns or Colitis have a blood relative also with the disease.

There is no certain gender that is affected by Crohn's more than the other.

Roughly 700,000 people in the United States are affected by Crohn's.

Crohn's can happen at any age, but the median age of all people affected are between the ages of 15-35.
(I was diagnosed at 15.)

What is this cause of Crohn's Disease?

Sadly, there is no cause, and no cure. There are medications that are able to get patients into remission, but finding a cure is still in tact. There is no set cause to this disease either. Researchers believe that Crohn's could be a mixture of environmental, genetic, and overactive immune system factors.

A huge important characteristic about Crohn's is that it's an autoimmune disease. That means my body attacks itself without my control. I'm basically a super-hero and villain all in one! Also, because it's an autoimmune disease, no one can see it. If someone has a broken foot, you can tell "wow, they have a broken foot, they must be in pain." For people with Crohn's, you can't do that.

Another fact people need to know about Crohn's is that it's different for absolutely everyone. You can't pin point a problem, and be able to fix it like say, cancer. "You have skin cancer ma'am, here's what we can do." Crohn's is like, "Okay, this is what's wrong, these are the medications we can try, but there are no guarantees." For most people, Crohn's means constantly using the restroom whereas I am the complete opposite. I'm usually pretty backed up, and need lots of help to relieve that. Stress is a huge factor in this disease, and let me tell you, being a broke college student dealing with school, a job, a boyfriend, possibly a dog, and everything else life throws at you is super stressful. It's hard to eliminate stress completely from life, but us Crohnie's really need to watch it.

I guess my point to this whole article is please educate yourself on diseases and illnesses before making assumptions. There are so many things no one knows about my disease, and how it affects my body. There are so many late nights, and sad days I have because I just don't feel good. There are so many days I'd love to scream and cry, but I just put on a smile because life could be worse. I could be in the hospital right now, fighting for my life. I could be searching for a place to live, or trying to overcome a much more life-threatening illness. This article isn't a pity-party, it's just a "Hey, please watch what you say. Please watch the glares, and the secret conversations behind my back." Be good to your body. Take care of it. Eat well, exercise normally, and enjoy pooping with working bowels.

Also, if you think you have a stomach ache, you really don't. Believe me!!