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For Rachel that was not the case. She has spent the last three years suffering
from pain and most days had a hard time getting out of bed. She yearned to eat
a regular meal and function like a normal person again. Rachel is 18-years-old
and suffered from ulcerative colitis.
“I would go to bed and hope that I would wake up to a day without pain,”
Rachel said. “I was so sick.”
Rachel was first treated with prescription medication, but due to consistent
flare ups and pain she discovered that the sulfur ingredient in the pills
caused her to have an allergic reaction. She was only able to tolerate
steroids, and every summer she was put in the hospital for up to a month to
receive steroids in high doses. This helped alleviate short term pain, but in
the summer of 2004, nothing would work. Rachel was doubled over in pain and
had to be rushed from Mississippi to New Orleans in an ambulance to see a
colorectal surgeon. The colitis had spread to her entire colon and the only
answer was to have it removed or her colon would rupture.
Taking Rachel’s age into consideration, the surgeon decided to remove her
colon laparoscopically. He wanted her to heal as quickly as possible and enjoy
her freshman year of college.
“Having surgery has given me my life back,” Rachel said. “I went from lying in
bed for two months to being active in less than one week. I have as much
energy as I possibly can have and act like a normal college freshman — stay up
until 2 a.m., walk to class, and work out every day.”
At the time Rachel just wanted her colon removed to feel healthy again. Now,
as she reflects on the experience, she is very thankful that she had it
removed laparoscopically. She experienced very little pain and minimal
scarring.
“I went swimming with my friends last week and was self conscience about my
scars, but no one noticed,” Rachel said. “The fact that I had major surgery
and my scars are so small that others won’t ever notice is unbelievable.”
Rachel’s life is no longer dictated by her disease and she is medication-free
for the first time in three years.
“There were days when I wanted to give up and didn’t understand why this was
happening to me,” Rachel said. “But with great surgeons and the technology
available today, I was able to look into the future and have hope.”
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