Angella Gaskin – Living With Ulcerative Colitis

My name is Angella Gaskin, most people call me Angie, I am not a doctor or in the medical or dietician field…I am living with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) since 2007.

The path that leads to remission or reduce flare ups is very challenging. It is not a straight path, there are hills and mountains and rocky roads. There are days you will curl up and weep because you believe there is no hope and you can barely imagine better days. There are also days you will feel as if God is smiling down at you.

I am here to tell you that there are more days when God is smiling down at you, there should never be a day that you would make you want to give up. I started my journey to wellness with a new outlook on life a learning adventure. I was a baby once more excited discovering food.

Ulceratve Colitis taught me how to enjoy my cooking by creating healthy recipes that I can eat with my family and friends, coping with day-to-day life especially when eating out and at family events, business events and other gatherings.

Ulcerative Colitis taught me self-motivation in order to achieve success.

Ulcerative Colitis taught me how to build strength on my weakness when I am too weak to tolerate the things that make me ill I have to be strong to remove them from my life.

Living with Ulcerative Colitis I love deeper starting with myself, my family and loved ones. I develop enthusiasm for life because every day challenges me to get up breathe listen to the bird outside my window and smile and be ready to start my day.

It has been nine years since that summer in New York; I was getting ready for a road trip with my daughter for her summer university experience at Boston University when I started having the symptoms of ulcerative colitis. I was referred to a gastroenterologist after various tests including a colonoscopy I was told I had ulcerative colitis. The doctor said I may have had it for years, it was nothing I eat or did not eat and it was not from something I drink or did not drink not from my lifestyle that caused this illness, it was in remission and something triggered it and that something was my mother’s sudden passing away, five months prior.

After which, I went to Jamaica because my father wanted to celebrate his birthday by burying my mother’s urn on the plot he bought for both of them. It was then the symptoms became severe, it was two weeks of pain beyond imagination. I was afraid to eat or drink anything because of the all the symptoms including the pain and bleeding. I returned to New York and was admitted to the hospital. My system was not absorbing the medication the bleeding caused my veins to shrink, it took three weeks in the hospital to get my symptoms under control.

After I left the hospital, I spent the next few months making changes in my life and by April 2008 my Ulcerative Colitis began to go in remission, during that time I lost thirty-six pounds. Even in remission, I would sometimes still have my flare-ups.

For the first two years I was frequently at the doctor’s office, the emergency, and hospitalized a few times. Food was my enemy, I did not know what to eat and got to the point I would just eat baby food, and broth. Eating like that caused me to have black outs and feel light headed and in 2010 I was back in the hospital for three days. I knew I had to find a way to live and live healthy with Ulcerative Colitis because it was not leaving me and I was going to live with it for the rest of my life. Even if it was a bad marriage divorce was not an option.

Today, I am living with Ulcerative Colitis taking my medication and vitamins, feeding my body properly, making a conscious effort to keep stress at bay and keeping my doctor’s appoints. I am happy to say I have not been hospitalized for six years. I have had a few flare-ups that sent me to the emergency, but have not been admitted.

I consider myself very fortunate to have family and friends who understands this chronic disease and take the time to help me to stay on track and give me the emotional support I need to get through my days.

You can contact me at:

angegas@gmail.com

ulcerativecolitisliving@gmail.com

https://ulcerativecolitisliving.com/