I've Been Gone {An Explanation}

OK so, some of you lovely loyal followers may have noticed I REALLY haven't been around lately. This is a personal post, but I think it needs to be said.

Anyways, on May 23, 2013 I was admitted into the hospital. I had gone to emergency at around 6 pm on the 22nd, and once I was seen, they admitted me to the children's hospital. I don't remember much of my first week here. That week was basically lived between morphine doses, as I was in an incredible amount of pain. At the end of that week, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. That was really hard on my parents (as I was in too much pain and under too many pain meds to care). 

Let's back up a little, because I think someone out there needs to hear about my stupidity. About 2 months prior to my hospital visit, I had begun showing symptoms of UC. I didn't tell anyone, because I couldn't miss school right before AP testing. I don't know if I would have ended up at this point anyways had I gone to the doctor earlier, because UC is a really weird disease, but I never gave myself the chance to find out. 

What is Ulcerative Colitis you ask? No? Oh well this is what it is (from Crohn's & Colitis):

Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic, or ongoing, disease that affects the colon, also known as the large intestine. The innermost lining of the colon becomes inflamed, and ulcers, which are tiny open sores, could form on the surface.
It’s the inflammation in the lining of the colon that causes the painful symptomscommonly associated with UC. Inflammation causes the colon to empty frequently, leading to diarrhea that – because of the ulcers – can sometimes be bloody.

So, yeah. I was experiencing some of these symptoms for a while, and I just kinda sucked it up, like a moron. If you realize you are bleeding internally, it's probably a good idea to call the doctor.

After AP tests, I went to my doctor, who sent me to a gastroenterologist (GI doctor). The Saturday after my GI appointment, I began what I now know is called a flare up. I got really sick and couldn't hold food down at all, in between bouts of weird abdominal cramping. I waited it out until Wednesday, expecting to get better.... but I didn't. Instead, I developed a fever and went to the emergency room.

And I already said what happened after that. The doctors tried to treat my UC with the different levels of medicines they had for it, and I didn't respond to any of them. In fact, I got worse. It went from me needing a  blood transfusion every week to every three days (I think I had 5 of them total). My doctor made the decision to just remove my colon and I now have an ileostomy, which is defined as (with this really stupid definition):

An ileostomy is an opening in your belly wall that is made during surgery.
An ileostomy is used to move waste out of the body when the colon or rectum is not working properly.
The word "ileostomy" comes from the words "ileum" and "stoma." Your ileum is the lowest part of your small intestine. "Stoma" means "opening." Your ileum will pass through a stoma after your surgery.

It has a bag that goes over it and it's been a little difficult dealing with that, but you know, it's all good because I am home now and that's all I wanted. I'm only going to have this thing for 4 months, and then they perform this cool reversal surgery in which they build a "J-pouch" with pieces of my small intestine and I can be normal again!

So, long story short: I was in the hospital for a month and I don't have a large intestine anymore.

I've read 4 or 5 books (all in the hospital) but I don't know if I'll be posting those reviews anytime soon or ever because most were read while under the influence of strong pain meds and I don't remember all of them.

If anyone reading this has a story like mine and wants to talk, feel free to comment or email me or tweet me or message me on tumblr or whatever. We can chat!