about it until he was helping my girlfriend cope with it. It seems to be something he is
ashamed of, when he should be proud that he made it through that, and went on to be a
successful businessman.
My experience with UC has been more with my girlfriend than with my father. That is not
to say that I know he didn’t suffer. He went through it before I was born, and doesn’t
speak much about it because it is what it is now for him. At least that is how I see it on
my end. I have gained insurmountable respect for what he went through and what he has
been able to do, after watching my girlfriend.
In October of 2012, I received a text message from my now girlfriend telling me she had
a parasite go undetected for months and that she has a IBD disease called ulcerative
colitis. To me, those were just fancy medical terms saying that she was sick and she’d
be okay. It was only then that I spoke to my parents and found out what UC was, it
was why my dad had the ostomy that I just thought was normal for some people. I
immediately did not like where she was, I knew she was in trouble.
As I write this, I do not want to describe the deterioration of a UC patient; rather, I want
to describe what it is like to live with the disease, without ever actually having it. Never
will I claim to have suffered as a UC patient does, because I have watched that suffering.
Not once will I try to tell you I know what having UC is like, because I don’t, I only know
what it does to someone physically and emotionally. There are multiple dimensions to
UC, the most important being the UC patient. However, in most instances, for every one
IBD patient, there are whole families and significant others who live with the disease,
without it. I am the significant other, living with UC, without it.
It is hard to describe the sensation of watching someone battle this disease. My
girlfriend went through an extreme case of UC, so severe her doctor hadn’t seen it that
bad in over 20 years of practice, that is what I am basing my story on. My experience
may differ in some ways, but I am ????????????????????????????A?????????????)?????U ?????????????????????????????9???????????????????????????????)???????????????????U ???????????)%???????????????d??????????????????????????????????Q?????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????A??????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????U ????????????9???????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)Q???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q???)?????????????????????????????????????????????????]????$???????????????????)?????????????????????????$???????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????)%?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????M??????????)????e???????????????????????????????????????????????????????e??????((??((