It’s Interview October, where we enjoy a month of guest posts. Today, let’s meet Vern Laine:

Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you…  

My name is Vern, I’m 50 years old and was born and raised and still live in British Columbia, Canada. I’m married with 2 boys. I work as an office manager and like to create artwork. I use it as ‘art therapy’.

Chronic illness(es)/disabilities I have… 

I was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease shortly after graduating high school over 30 years ago.

My symptoms/condition began… 

My ‘symptoms’ showed up one day suddenly, starting with a feeling of what felt like a gas bubble in my throat which made its way down to my gut where the Pain started. The pain was intense and happened all day long, especially after I ate. It was not uncommon to find me curled up in the fetal position or in the bathroom with 20-30 bowel movements every single day. I basically stopped eating and dropped 40 pounds.

My diagnosis process was… 

It took 6 months, several doctors and dozens and dozens of all kinds of tests to finally come to the conclusion of Crohn’s Disease. At first, they thought it was bacterial, then maybe a virus and even one doctor thought all the pain I was suffering was in my head! It was soon after my final diagnosis that I ended up in the hospital for a month after emergency surgery and bowel resections.

The hardest part of living with my illness/disabilities is… 

The hardest part with Crohn’s is the unpredictability of the disease. I can be fine one minute and the next, be in the hospital. Because of the unpredictability, it’s very hard to make plans, go on vacation or even just go out with my family. There are many, many different side effects with Crohn’s, predictability is just the hardest.

A typical day for me involves… 

A typical day is usually the same as any other person. Up early, kids off to school, work, dinner, kids to sports, sleep. Though, when I can, I need to Rest. I have to force myself to do so and often don’t let my body rest. If I’m having a flare of the disease, all this changes of course. Still up early, kids to school, stay home and rest, switch diet to liquid only, rest, sleep.

The one thing I cannot live without is… 

I can’t live without my family, they keep me sane.

Being ill/disabled has taught me… 

Being ill has taught me to accept help if it’s offered. Many years I went without help when offered to me because of the shame and embarrassment of the disease. Unfortunately, Crohn’s is stigmatized as just a “pooping” disease and that’s part of it, but there is so much more. Pain, fatigue, abscesses, fistulas, fissures, kidney stones, malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, etc. Help from family, friends, doctors, nurses and the like, if offered, take it.

What advice would I give someone recently diagnosed… 

I have 2 pieces of advice to the newly diagnosed is 1. to educate yourself. There is so much good information on the Net with websites and blogs from those of us that suffer from Crohn’s. And 2. to keep a log of what you eat, when you eat it and the results (how many times to the toilet, pain if any, etc)

My support system is…

My support system is my family (wife and kids) and the rest of my family, some friends and doctors. I also have social media support through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and my blog.

If I had one day symptom/disability-free I would… 

If I had just one day without Crohn’s? I would eat whatever I wanted. I could eat everything that I’ve been avoiding for the past 30 years!!

One positive of having a chronic illness/disability is…

One positive for having a disability is not taking anything for granted and even though I have a chronic illness that will be with me the rest of my life, there are many others in this world that have it worse than I.

My links are:

https://crohns-leavingtheseatdown.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/Crohnsguy
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Personal-Blog/Crohns-Leaving-The-Seat-Down-257412800953497/
https://www.instagram.com/crohnsguy/