UC Journey

  If you know what it's like to be very sick for a very long time, then you know that it can be pretty depressing. For me, when I have a flare, it takes me about two months or more to really start feeling like myself again. I have definitely gotten depressed or down at those times. But I have found some ways to help stay more positive during those very difficult times. Cling to God. If you are not a Christian, I would highly recommend seeking out Jesus. When things were at their worst, God was definitely my primary source of comfort. I knew that He saw what I was going through and would take care of me. When I didn't have the strength to study the Bible I would pray whenever my mind would allow it (there were times I was so out of it mentally from my medications, I couldn't focus enough to pray). This helped me a lot during my flares.  Think of a place that you feel the most at peace at, and pretend you are there. This part is why I have the picture that I do above. I have

  Recently, I have discovered the hard truth that I simply don't have the same energy levels as most young adults my age. My limit comes sooner than I'd like, and I get very tired after working for just a short time. I'm much, much better than I used to be but not where I'd like to be. I get discouraged when I've been out for one day and the next day, I just feel exhausted and weak. It makes me worry that I might be lazy or seem lazy to others when I really am trying my best to work as much as I can and do as much as I can. It's times like that when I need to have grace on myself and remember that I'm not healthy or normal even though I don't feel like I'm dying like when I'm in a flare. I will say that this experience of being diagnosed with UC has brought me closer to God. I need to lean on Him more than I ever have. He has been my comfort through all the difficult times. Praying helps a lot. Praying gives me the strength I need to make it thro

  Recently, I decided to get tested to see if I had any allergies or intolerance to any sort of food or drink so I could know what to avoid so I could prevent future flares. About a week ago I got my blood drawn to test and see if I was allergic to the top 12 most common foods people are allergic to which are: milk and dairy products soy shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster) mustard eggs peanuts fish wheat tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews) sesame fruits veggies My results came back negative. I am not allergic or sensitive to any of these. So, I bought a different test called Simply Sensitivity.  The one I bought tests for up to 900 different allergies and sensitivities. Yep. 900.  I thought that was pretty crazy. This test is done by mailing your hair to a lab and getting your results emailed back to you. This is a good test for anyone to take just so you can have a healthier lifestyle and know what foods to avoid. The test I bought was around $80. But there are cheaper versions of thi

 This is probably one of my favorite UC friendly meals to have. It's simple and delicious.  Tilapia and Rice Recipe Ingredients 1 tilapia filet  olive oil salt garlic powder paprika oregano (or basil if you don't have oregano) 2 cups of rice Shredded cheese (any kind) Directions Put 2 cups of rice in rice cooker or pot Before you put water in, put a dash of olive oil in rice and mix until the rice looks shiny and coated (this will make the rice not stick together). Then put 4 cups of water in with 1 tsp of salt. Leave to cook. Heat up small pan to medium heat  Put thawed tilapia filet in a small to medium sized bowl and coat in olive oil Sprinkle seasonings on each side of tilapia Put a little oil in pan and cook tilapia on both sides, 4 minutes on each side When rice is done, mix in some shredded cheese  Put rice into a bowl and cooked tilapia on top of the rice.  Enjoy!

  Potato wedges are a really tasty snack or side dish that is UC friendly. It's not really quick to make, but it is very easy. There are no measurements in this recipe, and it takes minimal ingredients to make. Potato Wedges Recipe Ingredients:  4 potatoes (any size, the bigger the better) Italian seasoning Garlic powder Salt Olive oil Pam spray (optional) Directions:   Preheat oven to 400 degrees F Rinse potatoes ( Note: If you are in a flare, peel the potatoes . The skin is too difficult to digest during a flare and will make symptoms worse.) Cut potatoes in half long-ways then cut the halves long-ways as well Put wedges in bowl and put a small drizzle of olive oil over the potatoes  Toss potatoes in the bowl until coated in olive oil Grab a large pan and spray with pam or use butter to oil pan Dump potato wedges onto pan and set them all on their side  Sprinkle each seasoning generously over the wedges, flip wedges onto other side, then sprinkle again on the other side Bake for

 Something that I found when trying different diets is that everyone is different. The GAPS diet may work for some people while a liquid diet works better for someone else.   GAPS is a diet that eliminates four things that you can eat: 1. Grains 2. Pasteurized dairy 3. Starchy vegetables 4. Refined carbs So, you basically stick to meat, bone-broth, non-starchy veggies, and fermented foods. The liquid diet is pretty self-explanatory -- liquids only. I will say that the GAPS diet was better than the liquid diet for me. The liquid diet made me feel worse and the GAPS diet didn't really make things better or worse. The thing that I found that worked best for me during my flares is the low-fiber diet. No raw fruits or veggies and primarily meat only.  The foods that I found were pretty good for me during flares was grilled meat, eggs, and rice. That's what I stuck to for the majority of my last flare. It's pretty close to what the GAPS diet is, just with a few adjustments. Some

  My most recent flare happened about six months ago in February. It's definitely still very fresh in my mind and not an experience that I enjoy dwelling on. But it is a part of my story.  Shortly after I started getting infusions (Remicade), I started feeling worse and worse. The diarrhea was coming back more frequently along with all the other symptoms of an ulcerative colitis flare. I was already not feeling very well before I started the infusions, but it didn't really help. I started taking more steroids as prescribed to me by my GI doctor. I started dreading going to work because of the pain and frequency of my bathroom trips. I remember just a few days before I had gone into the hospital for this flare, one of my student's guardians asked me if I had a date for "the next day," referring to Valentines Day. I had completely forgotten that it was Valentines Day because I was feeling so miserable from the oncoming flare. It confused me, which was a little embar

 In my last post, I said that my first flare was the start of me taking steroids for years. In this post, I will explain the side effects and other medicines that my GI doctor had me take. Prednisone is the medicine that I am most familiar with as of now. The main side effects I personally had from taking a lot of it was a bigger appetite, swelling, fatigue, gas/ bloating, shortness of breath and my heart racing at random times. It was very uncomfortable and, quite frankly, embarrassing. The swelling made me look fatter than I really was. Which, for a young lady like me who is normally very thin, is embarrassing! Anytime I would have something salty it would make me painfully bloated, and the fatigue made it hard to get out of bed a lot of days. Most of the time, if I walked at a normal pace, I would get very short of breath. There was really not much I could do about these side effects unless I slept a lot, didn't eat salty things, or walked very slowly. Even though it's hard

 I was 18 when I got my first colonoscopy. Just a few weeks shy of my 19th birthday. Shortly after I had gone to the doctor after getting fired from my babysitter job, I was referred to a gastroenterologist. At first, they thought I may have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), but they told me I should get a colonoscopy to be certain. So, they sent me home with the lovely colon cleanser kit. I had to go one full day without eating and drink the strong laxative the night before the procedure and the morning of. Luckily, my dad was kind enough to pay for the nicer laxative, so it didn't taste too bad.  For colonoscopy prepping, I would recommend getting the bathroom situated and comfortable before drinking the laxative, because you will be in there for a while. It takes about 10 minutes for it to really start working. Get your laptop or phone, some sort of entertainment, while you wait for it to go through your system. I personally had my laptop and watched The Lord of the Rings .  I was

Currently, I am diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and have known this for about two years coming up on three. However, I have had ongoing health issues since I was about 12 years old. I remember the day very clearly when I started having some problems physically. I woke up one morning and (I'll just say it, I'll be getting very personal on this blog) my period had started. Uncomfortable as usual. Painful as usual. This time though, I felt sick. So, I laid down on the couch. I felt okay, but then after a bit I started throwing up. Ever since that one day, I started feeling sick and throwing up every morning for months on end. I was homeschooled growing up for the most part, so I didn't need to worry about making it to school on time. It did affect my schooling though. I did have some online classes that I had to miss frequently because of this "morning sickness" that I had every day, but my teachers were understanding.  I became very underweight. I weighed between

 I'll be honest, I did not expect to create a blog about my health journey with Ulcerative Colitis. Yet here I am.  I started a blog first about my new transcription and editing business, Earful Edits, that is a work in progress at the moment. I realized that I wanted to talk about my health journey as well because it is a huge reason why I started transcription in the first place. However, I knew that my transcription blog was not the place to do that because that is a purely professional blog. So, I created a separate blog for my more personal side and personal journey if you do want the details of that. Thanks to my mom and my mother-in-law, I realized that blogs are a great place to use what you have learned to help others and to let others that are going through the same thing know that they are not alone. If you are interested in my transcription and editing business as well, here is the link to that blog:  Earful Edits (ee-hendricks.blogspot.com) If you are interested in wha