When You Live With Pain

I have been diagnosed with spondyloarthritis. And i cannot sleep! Even though im on ambien for my insomnia, the pain is relentless and i get no more than a few hours of broken sleep a night. I'm starting to get beyond frustrated with the fact my meds havent been preauthorized yet and my dr won't call me back.

When i saw him the 1st time, he asked my pain level. I told him a 10 because it was. I could barely move, walk, sit. I cant even bend over. He said no a 10 means you wouldnt be sitting here talking to me right now.

Hold on. Let me tell you something! For over a decade, i have been poked and prodded, been through chemo, a stem cell transplant, every test imaginable, felt like i was giving birth to my intestines 15-25 times a day, was malnourished, had multiple picc lines, almost died twice, had surgery, have given my self injections for years, broken multiple bones, had my bones drilled in to 3 times and God knows what else. I am not a stranger to pain. Just because you can't read it on my face, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It just means I've been through Hell already so I know how to walk through fire.

Please don't underestimate my pain, based on my facial expressions.  You haven't live through what I have.

Pictures of Me & My Life! OCT 2014

Yep I Got That Too

Since my blog is about my journey in Crohn's disease and my stem cell transplant, many of my followers and even friends, don't know all the other health issues I carry with me. I posted below pics of other health problems I have to deal with on a daily basis. Some have information attached,  some just state the problem. And some, as you will see, are very personal and this is the first time I have ever come out publicly. You will know what I mean when you get there. The point of this post is not to "show off" all my problems and definitely not for sympathy. I'm merely giving you a bit of insight in to the world of, well, me. And I hope some of them can help some of my readers feel more relatable and even give them more confidence and courage to seek medical attention for problems they may have as well! So here it goes!

Side note: I am seriously diagnosed with these issues. I am by far not a hypochondriac.  I would trade anything in the world to not have the health problems I have, but this is the life I've been given and there's no point in denying any of it. And if anyone of my fellow crohnies or loved ones of Crohn's patients know, many of these illnesses come hand in hand with autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease.