Thanks to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation for the opportunity to serve my fellow IBDers by sharing my experiences as well as introducing past and present Honored Heroes at the Brooklyn Take Steps Walk. Hats off to all of you for being brave enough to share how miserable these diseases are and how you are working to transcend #IBD.
And a special thank you to all the doctors/surgeons and Lyfebulb for coming out to support us patients in our struggle!
Even though I look well in the above photo, after the walk, I quickly deteriorated. I was dehydrated, had trouble breathing and had a partial bowel obstruction. Luckily, the Foundation was on top of their game and had EMS on site to help me out.
And thanks to my dear friends (Melissa, Anne, Smruti, Vanisha, Ramzi and Aparna), I was able to recover. The obstruction passed several hours later with proper hydration and I dodged a hospital admission by the skin of my teeth. Phew! Since then, my GI doctor, surgeon and I have been working on setting up weekly IV hydration appointments at the hospital for the duration of the summer.
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Even though this wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for me, experiences like these always remind me how fragile life is but also how amazing life can be. It feels wonderful to be emceeing and giving back to a community that’s given me so much but sickness is sickness. It rears its ugly head unexpectedly and we have to be ready to roll with the punches. That’s life with chronic illness in a nutshell and why I’m thankful every single day to be alive.
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***Folks, always remember to ask for help as soon as you start feeling symptomatic. On hot and humid summer days, it is important to hydrate with electrolytes especially if you have a j-pouch or ostomy.***
