All I was doing was sitting in a meeting. I started getting light headed and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with my feet on a chair.
“I am ok, “ I said. “I think I just need something to eat.”
“No,” my co-worker said, “an ambulance is on its way. You are going to the hospital.”
I insisted that I didn’t need to go, but my co-worker thought differently and pressed me into going, “just to make sure”. Reluctantly, I agreed.
That co-worker saved my life. Little did I know that only a few short hours later I would be in the ICU with a life threatening GI bleed.
You see, I have Crohn’s Disease. I have been living with it for 32 years. Most of the time, it is under control. Most of the time, I don’t even think about it. It is just something I manage.
My Crohn’s disease is a little sneaky though – I tend to not show symptoms. So, that afternoon, 3 years ago, I was feeling fine and the next thing I knew, I was in ICU.
Fortunately, the bleeding stopped without intervention. However, my doctor and I agreed that surgery was my best option. The chance was pretty high that the bleed could occur again and I didn’t want to live my life in fear. A week later, I had major surgery.
I was lucky or maybe I was smart. I had been taking good care of myself – eating right, working out, drinking plenty of water, managing my stress and getting my sleep. I was in what I would consider good shape and healthy. My doctor told me that those habits probably saved my life.
So, why do I tell this story? You might be saying to yourself – “but, look, even when you took good care of yourself you ended up in ICU.” And you would be right. But imagine where I might be if I wasn’t taking good care of myself.
I cannot control that I have a chronic disease, but I can control how I treat my body. I chose to treat it with care. I chose to feed it good fuel. I chose to keep it strong and flexible. I chose to manage my stress. Because I know that with those choices, I am giving myself the best chance at staying healthy for a long time. For me, it is about making healthy choices every day.
The same is true for you whether or not you suffer from a chronic illness. Too many of us take our health for granted. Health is gift. Make good choices. Take care of you.
P.S. Knowing you need to make healthy choices is easy. Knowing where to start is hard. Let me help. Message me: kjmeuwissen@gmail.com
