So, remember how I said that when you have Crohn’s long enough, you develop a fear of where things can go? This is how that happens. You learn a lot when you’re recovering from surgery.
This flashback is set in 1999. I was 18 and recovering from my first surgery. I had been very sick for months, but the procedure was actually pretty simple. This was in the days before laparoscopic surgery, so they cut me open from sternum to groin and removed about 9 inches of my small intestine and colon. I was warned not to cough or laugh too hard, since the wound could split back open. I minded the warning, but didn’t take it too seriously. And then this happened. And then I took it seriously.