Hi there! I'm Nike, from the US. I don't have Crohn's myself, but I joined because I don't know half as much as I should about Crohn's and I have 3 chronically ill family members, and several more prone to being chronically ill in the future.
3 years ago, I moved in with my sweetheart and his family. There are 10 of us total (His mom & dad, my boyfriend, his older sister and younger sister, his older sister's 3 kids, and then there's me and my other "sister" who were taken into this home years ago.) I love my man, and his family is my family; I have never been so happy as I am here at home.
However, my years of maturity were spent with my biological mother and her alcoholic, mentally and physically abusive boyfriend who was 20 years older than herself. I was trapped in the middle of an alcoholic, codependent relationship and suffered PTSD, depression and anxiety by the time I left. In fact, those things didn't really become apparent until I left because I had something to compare my emotions with: love! Now, I am much more equipped to deal with the well being of others, since I have come to understand my own problems. I want to seek knowledge about my boyfriend's mom's disorder.
His mother was diagnosed with Crohn's several years back. She has been in the hospital for Pancreatitis three times since I've lived here. She is also diabetic, and has many joint problems. She will have to take pain medicine for the rest of her life.
So will my (boyfriend's) older sister. After her 3rd child was born in her late 20s, she started to have health problems. She was diagnosed with Hashimoto syndrome about two years ago. That is an autoimmune disorder involving the thyroid. She also has a squished pituitary gland. Yes, squished! She has many problems, especially endocrine oriented things. She has to take hormone injections every day. Since she has to rotate places, she taught me how to give a shot the right way and I help her when she can't reach.
My boyfriend's younger sister (who is very close to me because we were friends in high school) has IBS. (Their) Mom believes strongly that she suffers from Crohn's as well. She has had problems with her stomach and bowels since she was a kid. She just started seeing a new primary care doctor, and she's getting a TON of blood work done to see what's wrong with her. She has anxiety issues as well. I don't know if Crohn's can be a cause of (or somehow related to) anxiety issues. I know that she isn't afraid of having a certain health problem, but she is very afraid of the unknown and hates being in the dark, medically speaking; the waiting is killing her.
My (boyfriend's) older sister, the one with the pituitary/thyroid problems, has a son who is also at risk. Not for Crohn's, but for something called "Acromegaly" which like his mom's disorder, involves the pituitary. It's where your pituitary produces excess growth hormones. I'm wondering, that's likely genetic, correct? He is 15 years older right now (the elder of a 9 year old sister and 5 year old sister who are so far, healthy.) He is getting tested for this. My 15 year old nephew is 6'1" with massive hands and size 15 feet. My (boyfriend's) mom said that if he does have this disorder, he can end up having heart complications and a shorter life span. Fortunately, if what she says is true (and she's pretty savvy) it can be treated and its symptoms are completely manageable; that being said, it's best when caught early, like most things.
Needless to say, someone is always ill in my household, especially Mom and her eldest daughter. I wasn't always the most sympathetic person; I was taught by my mother's crazy boyfriend (and the foster system before that) that people should pull their own weight, deal with stuff alone and let everyone else fend for themselves...which is completely contradictory of LOVE! For the time I spent working through my own emotional issues, I wasn't as loving as I wish I could have been because I put a lot of energy into understanding myself. My lover's mom REALLY helped me through all of that. She has been a wonderful mother, and the perfect person to lean on. I want to learn everything I can about her condition, and the condition of her daughters and grandson and everyone else here, so that I can make up for the time I spent focused on me...because now I'm ready to help other people.
"Mom" feels very inadequate at times. She LOVES to cook homemade meals for the whole family. But that's 10 people, and she has problems standing for that long. Sometimes, her hands will go numb and it frustrates her because she's doing something important. Sometimes, her medicine makes her too sleepy and she starts to fall asleep standing up. She has hurt herself like this. In the past, she'd be holding something like hot coffee, and she'd fall asleep or her hands would go numb, and she'd spill everywhere. She feels the need to do ALL the laundry, even though the rest of us are capable. She's a mom, through and through. And she feels like all of these things are embarrassing. She gets so fed up with herself sometimes. I want to be in this community, on this forum, because I want to know what kind of support works best in this situation. And I know that her elder daughter feels this way too because her hormones do strange things to her, like make her have uncontrollable pain and fevers, or get very moody or sleepy. These things aren't their fault, but I want them not only to hear it, but to KNOW I still respect and love them regardless of these things.
Mom is sad that the youth of my generation (I'm in my early 20s) don't really go to their elders for advice. So I would really like the advice of my elders. Also, people my age, because if it's genetic, my future children could have it as well and I want to be the best mom I can when that time comes. And I want to be the best (adoptive-esque) daughter and sister I can be so I can support them.
Well I hope that summed it up, and I hope it wasn't TOO long and awful, haha. If you read this, thank you. I look forward to understanding much more about Crohn's and related diseases and disorders. Again, thanks <3
3 years ago, I moved in with my sweetheart and his family. There are 10 of us total (His mom & dad, my boyfriend, his older sister and younger sister, his older sister's 3 kids, and then there's me and my other "sister" who were taken into this home years ago.) I love my man, and his family is my family; I have never been so happy as I am here at home.
However, my years of maturity were spent with my biological mother and her alcoholic, mentally and physically abusive boyfriend who was 20 years older than herself. I was trapped in the middle of an alcoholic, codependent relationship and suffered PTSD, depression and anxiety by the time I left. In fact, those things didn't really become apparent until I left because I had something to compare my emotions with: love! Now, I am much more equipped to deal with the well being of others, since I have come to understand my own problems. I want to seek knowledge about my boyfriend's mom's disorder.
His mother was diagnosed with Crohn's several years back. She has been in the hospital for Pancreatitis three times since I've lived here. She is also diabetic, and has many joint problems. She will have to take pain medicine for the rest of her life.
So will my (boyfriend's) older sister. After her 3rd child was born in her late 20s, she started to have health problems. She was diagnosed with Hashimoto syndrome about two years ago. That is an autoimmune disorder involving the thyroid. She also has a squished pituitary gland. Yes, squished! She has many problems, especially endocrine oriented things. She has to take hormone injections every day. Since she has to rotate places, she taught me how to give a shot the right way and I help her when she can't reach.
My boyfriend's younger sister (who is very close to me because we were friends in high school) has IBS. (Their) Mom believes strongly that she suffers from Crohn's as well. She has had problems with her stomach and bowels since she was a kid. She just started seeing a new primary care doctor, and she's getting a TON of blood work done to see what's wrong with her. She has anxiety issues as well. I don't know if Crohn's can be a cause of (or somehow related to) anxiety issues. I know that she isn't afraid of having a certain health problem, but she is very afraid of the unknown and hates being in the dark, medically speaking; the waiting is killing her.
My (boyfriend's) older sister, the one with the pituitary/thyroid problems, has a son who is also at risk. Not for Crohn's, but for something called "Acromegaly" which like his mom's disorder, involves the pituitary. It's where your pituitary produces excess growth hormones. I'm wondering, that's likely genetic, correct? He is 15 years older right now (the elder of a 9 year old sister and 5 year old sister who are so far, healthy.) He is getting tested for this. My 15 year old nephew is 6'1" with massive hands and size 15 feet. My (boyfriend's) mom said that if he does have this disorder, he can end up having heart complications and a shorter life span. Fortunately, if what she says is true (and she's pretty savvy) it can be treated and its symptoms are completely manageable; that being said, it's best when caught early, like most things.
Needless to say, someone is always ill in my household, especially Mom and her eldest daughter. I wasn't always the most sympathetic person; I was taught by my mother's crazy boyfriend (and the foster system before that) that people should pull their own weight, deal with stuff alone and let everyone else fend for themselves...which is completely contradictory of LOVE! For the time I spent working through my own emotional issues, I wasn't as loving as I wish I could have been because I put a lot of energy into understanding myself. My lover's mom REALLY helped me through all of that. She has been a wonderful mother, and the perfect person to lean on. I want to learn everything I can about her condition, and the condition of her daughters and grandson and everyone else here, so that I can make up for the time I spent focused on me...because now I'm ready to help other people.
"Mom" feels very inadequate at times. She LOVES to cook homemade meals for the whole family. But that's 10 people, and she has problems standing for that long. Sometimes, her hands will go numb and it frustrates her because she's doing something important. Sometimes, her medicine makes her too sleepy and she starts to fall asleep standing up. She has hurt herself like this. In the past, she'd be holding something like hot coffee, and she'd fall asleep or her hands would go numb, and she'd spill everywhere. She feels the need to do ALL the laundry, even though the rest of us are capable. She's a mom, through and through. And she feels like all of these things are embarrassing. She gets so fed up with herself sometimes. I want to be in this community, on this forum, because I want to know what kind of support works best in this situation. And I know that her elder daughter feels this way too because her hormones do strange things to her, like make her have uncontrollable pain and fevers, or get very moody or sleepy. These things aren't their fault, but I want them not only to hear it, but to KNOW I still respect and love them regardless of these things.
Mom is sad that the youth of my generation (I'm in my early 20s) don't really go to their elders for advice. So I would really like the advice of my elders. Also, people my age, because if it's genetic, my future children could have it as well and I want to be the best mom I can when that time comes. And I want to be the best (adoptive-esque) daughter and sister I can be so I can support them.
Well I hope that summed it up, and I hope it wasn't TOO long and awful, haha. If you read this, thank you. I look forward to understanding much more about Crohn's and related diseases and disorders. Again, thanks <3
