The advantage of being young was I did not realize what I was going through, I had to make a quick decision on how to live; either dwell on the idea of being sick, or believe I was ok and have fun, for obvious reasons, I chose the latter.

My first 5 years with Crohn’s, due to my excessive need to use the restroom, “accidents” always happened, and wardrobe mishaps were a weekly (minimum) ordeal. Of course as a teenager, I could never disclose my sense of shame in front of my friends and peers, so I’d brush it off and always act like nothing happened. Cool part of all of this was, due to my skill in restroom hunting, I was crowned “the restroom spotter”.

Hospitals quickly became a familiar hang out place for my friends and I; I’d get a reaction from one of my meds (happened often), and would need to be admitted. In order to avoid FOMO, I’d invite my friends over to chill and hang out, we were creative with gossip spots too, we would meet at stairways and hidden corridors so no one could eavesdrop. My parents treated Crohn’s as a normal flu when around me, in order for me to live as much of a normal life as possible. Luckily I learnt to become the girl who happens to have Crohn’s, and never the Crohn’s patient.