Dealing with a lack of understanding is one of the toughest parts of having Crohn’s Disease (or any chronic illness I imagine). It’s one of the core reasons I built this site. Most people are used to getting sick, taking medicine, then getting better. Most people also associate getting out of the hospital with being healed. Crohn’s just doesn’t work like that. For a Crohnie, getting out of the hospital means that you are stable, but not necessarily healed.
Crohn’s defies most people’s conceptions of what sick is supposed to look like. Crohnies may get pale, thin, or fat, but we don’t usually get other external symptoms. When we’re really sick, we may just look like we’re under the weather. People also know what a stomach ache or diarrhea feels like, so they tend to think that’s all Crohn’s is. The result is that they can be dismissive or make us feel like we’re being dramatic. If you’ve read my page About Crohn’s Disease, you know that there is so much more going on than just stomach aches and diarrhea. Again, one of the main reasons for this site is that I want people to understand what the day-to-day looks like.