No. More. Food. (and A Pledge)....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.
4. Many children do not present with classic abdominal/intestinal symptoms. Most first present with growth issues.
5. Crohn's also causes three different types of inflammation of the eye (episcleritis, scleritis, and uveitis)
6. The illness has several names: ileitis, regional enteritis, ileocolitis, and Crohn's colitis (for disease solely in the colon).
7. As is the case with many digestive diseases, people are quick to assume that the cause of Crohn's is stress. However, most doctors tell their patients that this is simply false. Stress can affect the patient much the same as it does with any other major disease but is not the cause of the illness.
8. Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop Crohn's disease.





I'm so done with turkey, ham, potatoes (white and sweet), turnip, squash, stuffing, cranberries, carrots, pumpkin pie, apple crisp/pie, lemon squares, cracker squares that I didn't even know existed, and too many other things that my Thanksgiving coma won't let me remember.

I don't think I'll eat for a week....

Pledge....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.
4. Many children do not present with classic abdominal/intestinal symptoms. Most first present with growth issues.
5. Crohn's also causes three different types of inflammation of the eye (episcleritis, scleritis, and uveitis)
6. The illness has several names: ileitis, regional enteritis, ileocolitis, and Crohn's colitis (for disease solely in the colon).
7. As is the case with many digestive diseases, people are quick to assume that the cause of Crohn's is stress. However, most doctors tell their patients that this is simply false. Stress can affect the patient much the same as it does with any other major disease but is not the cause of the illness.

Happy Turkey Day and A Pledge....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.
4. Many children do not present with classic abdominal/intestinal symptoms. Most first present with growth issues.
5. Crohn's also causes three different types of inflammation of the eye (episcleritis, scleritis, and uveitis)
6. The illness has several names: ileitis, regional enteritis, ileocolitis, and Crohn's colitis (for disease solely in the colon).



Happy Turkey Day to my Canadian friends!
:)

P.S. Is it ridiculous to do the Chicken Dance on Turkey Day? Because if it is then I don't want to be right....
:D

I Better Not Get Sick and A Pledge....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.
4. Many children do not present with classic abdominal/intestinal symptoms. Most first present with growth issues.
5. Crohn's also causes three different types of inflammation of the eye (episcleritis, scleritis, and uveitis)



I also better not be getting pneumonia and/or Strep Throat. I have family coming in from out of town this weekend and that would suck.

Sore Knees and A Pledge....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.
4. Many children do not present with classic abdominal/intestinal symptoms. Most first present with growth issues.





And also my knees are sore and swollen. But what else is new....

Turkeys and A Pledge

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.



Today it was raining. So we made lollipop turkeys!
Happy Thanksgiving Canadians!

Quick Pledge....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.

Why Purple Will Never Be As Big As Pink....

October is Brest Cancer awareness month. Yesterday my town held 26th annual Walk for Breast Cancer. There were 1,800 participants in my town and $390,000 was raised in my province. The Crohn's and Colitis walk in my area had nowhere near that much support.

I realize that Breast Cancer (or any type of cancer for that matter) and IBD are two totally and completely different illnesses in the world. And before I go any further I would like to state that I am not downplaying Breast Cancer. My Aunt had Breast Cancer. I watched her go through chemo and radiation. I reluctantly helped pull out tufts of her hair. I watched her puke and have more life drain out of her everyday. I know. Cancer is horrible. I get it. I have lived it.

That being said I believe that Crohn's Disease is never going to be as publicized as Breast Cancer.

It's not anyone's fault. Crohn's Disease is a very internal thing. You don't loose all of your hair. You don't have to go through a rigorous chemo and radiation schedule. Some people don't have to have a "major body changing surgery". This is the attitude.
What some people don't understand is that yes, a lot of CD patients do have to go through these things. And they don't end. Yes our hair falls out, but slowly so you can't tell because we change up our hairstyle. No we don't have to go through chemo but we do have to get Remicade. And guess what? It doesn't end as chemo does. And yes we do have surgeries. And while you may no longer have boobs we now poo through our stomach into a bag. It's not fun.

So I guess the major difference is....

Breast Cancer is a "short term/intense battle" that either ends in death or remission. And in five years the majority of patients know wether or not they need to worry.

Crohn's Disease is a "long term/marathon" endurance that is unpredictable and never ending. After five years chances are patients have been in and out of the hospital(numerous times) and are still not better. We can never let our guard down.

And that my friend is why purple will never be as pink....

*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*

1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.

Apparently Size Does Matter....

Yesterday I accomplished one of my bigger goals in life. I purchased a double bed.
Now one might say that it is a tad large for my room (it takes up 3/4 of the floor space) but numbers don't lie.
Since May I have been using an app I downloaded on iTunes named Sleep Cycle. You put it under your top sheet when you sleep and it records how, when and what quality you sleep. It gives you graphs, numbers and percentages telling you all about your movements in your sleep.
Below are two sets of numbers. One from a couple of weeks ago and one from last night.
Based on the sleep quality percentage I'll take less floor space and a better night's sleep any day of the week.
;)

Everything Has A Consequence....

Last night my arms and hands were sore. But I chose to knit. I wanted to finish a couple of dish cloths that I was making for my friend for her new house. I worked on them for about four hours straight.

That was a mistake.

Needless to say I woke up with my hands like this....

 

Ya. Everything has a consequence. I learned that the hard way today.

And that auto-immune diseases suck....