• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Sigh of relief... people like me?!

J

jbird_75

Guest
Hi Ya'll,
My name is Jess, in all honesty, what brought me to this forum initially, was a negative experience I had recently. I am a 33 yr old female and was diagnosed with moderate to severe Crohn's disease 3 years ago, with some ulcering. It wasn't a huge shock as I've been symptomatic all my life, and my Mom has lived with Severe Crohn's and Severe Ulcertive Colitis all her life. I've watched a many of surgeries come and go with Mom and lots of painful years. But the diagnosis still contained a whallop. I've kinda been skimming along acting like it's not a huge issue and keepin' it on the downlow. Until a little over a week ago. I began a new job 6 months ago that I love, I work with only 3 others at my branch and they are men. I had commented some about my illness, but not much at all, my fault. I was afraid I'd be met with the attitude that I was unable to accomplish my job. I do a great job, work my hardest, and managed to function even through my flare-ups.
Recently though I felt a severe one coming on, for a couple of weeks I was in the bathroom ALOT, running late for work, missing longer than suspected on my errand runs when I had to stop for a restroom, the whole spill. Finally, this past sunday night, wham, the big one hit me and I couldn't make it into work for two days. High fever, severe cramping, listless, weak, dizzy, joint pain. When I returned to work, sick as a dog on the third day I might add. I was met with cold shoulders, they were blatantly ignoring me, I even got a whole entire dirty look. I went to my office and cried. They were lucky I made it in on that day, much less for the rest of the week. My boss even called in the regional manager to "talk" to me because(for the first time since I began) I called in sick. I had been sick with bronchitis and strep throat 2 months before and never missed a day. Crohn's ignorance is all I could think, I was hurt, angry, sick and just plain peed off. If I could have gotten my hands on a "Crohn's for Dummies" workbook, they'd have been sorry ;) The regional manager told me that one of the guys in particular was saying I called in so that I could "extend my vacation" or "party" because my fiance and I had gone to the beach that weekend and they were aware that we were going because I told them I was excited about it on Friday. Actually our mini vacay was cut short because I got sick.

Anyhoo, it jolted me into internet searches for info and advice for myself, and people I've kept in the dark about this disease. This is when I found you guys. I talked to a particular "old timer" on the forum...lol..he's gonna kill me, and he settled my fears about sharing on the forum. I'm glad I found ya'll, this forum seems mighty supportive, just what I was looking for.

Glad to make your aquaintence fellow gut bubblers.......

Jess.
 
hi Jess, welcome to the forum - & welcome to letting it all out verbally, as opposed to just.... yeah, well, we don't need to elaborate lol

seriously, sharing & reading others' sharing is so good, so beneficial, and it really makes you feel you're not alone. i'm really glad you found us :)

re your work colleagues - i think many of us can commiserate on that score. i actually felt bullied into resigning from my job last year, purely because of a similar experience to yours...

looking forward to seeing you around the forum Jess.
 
J

jbird_75

Guest
That's exactly how I felt , like a cornered Crohn's rat.......

thanks for your response dingbat......
 
I know what you mean. This crap seems to happen a lot and everytime it really pisses me off. What part of LA are you from. I was born in Metairie and lived there till I was 12. I can't wait to get back for some good ol' fashion cajun cooking.(=
 
hey Jess, welcome to the site:D

"old timer" in the forum? hmm, my guess would be
A kev
B kev
C kev

:)
 
P

Promise77

Guest
Jess,

I was actually "let go for my own good" from a job years ago because of my Crohn's. I hadnt really missed any work but I had told a couple of my co-workers that I was sick and and in a lot of pain. They shared the info with our center manager and it went up the line. They told me they were concerned for my health and that being a supervisor required me to be able to handle high stress situations. I had been handling them just fine I had thought. They actually offered me a lower paying job in another center (which was farther from my home) or I just leave. I was so mad...but in the long run it was probably a blessing.
 

mikeyarmo

Co-Founder
Welcome to the forum jbird_75!

I am glad that one of our members helped you feel more comfortable with posting. It is hard when people do not understand what you have to go through with your condition... especially when these people are your employers! Well I hope that you will be able to get a bit more support at work and will be able to learn and share more here on the forum! I also really like your "Crohn's for Dummies" comment... I think that would be something really great to inform new sufferers or others about the disease.

Promise77 - it is hard when those things happen but I am glad you can now look back on it and see it as a positive thing.
 
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