Hi there! Welcome to part three of this six-part blog series about my crazy rollercoaster journey with autoimmune pancreatitis. Did you miss part one or two? Check them out here! This post will cover my third (and final) hospital stay, my specialty endoscopy procedure, and my super strange pathology results. We left off in late […]
Living with Autoimmune Pancreatitis, Part 2 of 6: My Second Pancreatitis Hospitalization, Digestive Enzymes, and My Unofficial Diagnosis
Welcome back to part two of this 6-part blog series about my recent journey with autoimmune pancreatitis! If you missed part one, be sure to check it out here first. It’s all about my pancreatitis symptoms, blood tests and procedures I had done, and my first (of three) hospital stays. Today’s post will cover my […]
Living with Autoimmune Pancreatitis, Part 1 of 6: My Health Update, Pancreatitis Symptoms, and First Hospitalization
In December 2023, my world tipped upside down. I was just coming out of a six-month ulcerative colitis flare. One day, it felt like a literal bowling ball had lodged itself in my upper abdomen. It hurt to move. It hurt to eat. It hurt to breathe. The only thing that gave me some relief […]
Starting Vancomycin to Manage My (Probable) PSC
My gastroenterologist, Dr. Yinka Davies, is a PSC expert. In fact, she studied under Dr. Kenneth Cox, the doctor who discovered the use of vancomycin for PSC! Since Dr. Davies is familiar with vancomycin and regularly prescribes it for her PSC patients, she suggested I try it. At first, I was hesitant because it was […]
4 Reasons Why Chronic Illness Changed My Motivation for Exercising
I used to work out because I wanted to look good. Chronic illness has changed that. Keep on reading to learn my new-found motivations for exercise and the life-changing event that launched this change. 4 New Reasons Why I Exercise I used to work out to look good. But now, living with chronic illness, I […]
Health Update: An Inflamed Colon, an Inconvenient Hospitalization, and Starting Entyvio
In August 2018, I was hospitalized for five days for the worst ulcerative colitis flare of my life. In this post, I share why I was hospitalized, how they managed my symptoms in the hospital, and how this flare affected my long-term school and career plans. Let’s dive in! The First Signs of the Flare […]