The Happiness Triangle: Imagination

Last post, I started to explain what happiness meant to me. I see it as three points of a triangle: humour, imagination, and love. Humour is the easiest of the three to explain because you can see it’s effect. If you find something funny, you smile, chuckle, snicker, or laugh. If you like me though, you do all that plus shake, shimmy, fall to the ground. Imagination is something that is harder to describe than humour. It’s all in your head and hard to share without an effort to make it tangible for others to see. It’s like jumping into a bin of LEGO. There’s all these pieces and ideas, but by themselves they do not do much. Then you pick up a piece and connect it with another, and another, and another. Before you know it, you have built something.It can be touched, it’s no longer just a passing thought.

I’ve always said that I’m ideas man, sometimes too much of one. It can make it hard to focus with a whole bunch of different ramblings bouncing around in your head trying to compete for space. I’ve learned though that the best way to deal with it though is to write them down. There are very few times that you can find me without a pen and a notebook or a folded up piece of paper. Some ideas are better than others, and some take some more planning than others. Most though tend to be a bit different from most other people’s thoughts. I’ve always liked the expression of “Think/ing outside of the box” but like to think that my mind goes a few steps further to “Outside the city that box is in”. It can lead to some extremely crazy ideas, but in general, is fairly useful. I love to sit in on and participate in group brainstorming sessions to collaborate with others to solve important problems with creative ideas. The looks I see on people’s faces that I see can be really entertaining. Plus, it also tends to ground me a bit and help bring my ideas to fruition when others find them apeeling (pun intended).

Sometimes though, even with the best of planning and coordination, ideas fail which is alright as well. Nothing is a complete failure, because even from that “failure” was a learning experience that you can use to move forward with something else that is going on now, or new skills learned to use with a new project later. There are those out there though who will try to consistently shout you down and be negative towards your ideas for reasons that are only known to them. This is when you just have to smile, and surround yourself with positive people who can help you. Those ideas that are meant to be will, with hard work and determination, work out. Even if it isn’t what you expected to be when you started, it was meant to turn out the way it did. One of my favourite quotes exemplifies this:

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

Douglas Adams

And with that I shall leave you for now, but do know that if you have any ideas floating around, share them. There will always be someone out there who loves it and wants to help. The only dumb question or idea is one not shared.

The Happiness Triangle: Humour

Back in the fall, I was asked by a friend Asad (You should really know him) to be a speaker at a event he was organizing called PIP Conference. It’s along the same idea as the TED Talks, but only one topic. This year, the topic was to be Happiness, and the event was being held as the same week as International Happiness Day. I thought this was a great idea, and gladly agreed to speak. I’m certainly no expert on happiness, but this wasn’t the point. The conference was all about different perspectives of happiness. For some, it was taught by their parents love and joy. Others, viewed happiness to be similar to a kaleidoscope.

For me though, happiness stems from a triangle of humour, imagination, and love. Each is great on its own, but is fully realized when supported by the other two pillars. It’s like a fire for me, if I only have two of the ingredients, I’m not fully happy. However, if all three ingredients are present, then happiness can spread like a wildfire from within.

Humour

Growing up, I was a victim of bullying. Some was brought on by my own volition, but most of it not. Slowly, I was able to learn to use humour as a defence mechanism, which in itself isn’t such a great situation, but it was what was able to clear my way to being happy. I was lucky enough to move away from the bullying and make a new start in a new place. A clean slate where no one knew me, and I could just be myself without fear of prosecution. This not only helped me use humour in a positive environment, but learn to build self-confidence. Because of this, I have been able to welcome many wonderful people into my life. I noticed the change when I moved from Kingston to Ottawa for post secondary right after graduating high school. I never really hung out with people from school outside of the four walls of education, but thanks to ICQ (Yes, my social media use is BFB: Before Facebook. I’m that old) I had a few people from high school reach out and want to build friendships past high school. This was a new experience for me and glad I went through it, these people have gone from being friends to being family.

Humour can be a positive as a defence mechanism as well. It can be used to deal with a difficult situation. It’s one of the reasons why I’m able to stay happy while dealing with my Crohn’s. I can make myself, and others, laugh about my pain. When I was first diagnosed, I went to see a specialist for closer examination. Boy, was it ever a lot closer than I thought it’d be. I walked out of the appointment feeling a bit violated, waddling like a duck. After a few sessions, I started to get a better picture of what was happening with my body without having to “turn and cough”. I was prescribed some drugs to help with the inflammation in my intestines, but it continued to grow. It got to a point where it was decided that I would need to remove the infected area. Part of the prep for the surgery included having a stent placed between my kidney and bladder. After it was put in place, the doctor came into my hospital room to see how I was doing. As soon as he walked in, I asked him if he was here to give me a “stenting ovation”. This made him want to instantly turn around, while at the same time laugh and was glad to see me in good spirits. Then, the major part of the surgery came, removing 6″ of my small intestine where it meets my large intestine. I was a bit woozy after, but was still happy (morphine is funny that way). After the drugs had worn off a bit and I could be with it, the doctor came by for another visit and asked me how I felt. I responded by telling him that it felt like I had been on “Wheel of Fortune”. With a puzzled look, he inquired further as to why this was. It was because I had won a new bowel and they’re hopefully be no more constipations.

This is why I always seem fairly happy. I try to make the best of every situation and see the positive side of it. It helps to release and avoid stress, which can in turn, affect your health. Given the chronic illness that I deal with, this is very important to me. Staying healthy means that I can stay happy and be out in the world doing the things I love, spreading smiles, one face at a time.

Soon, I shall follow this up with a post on the other pillars of happiness, imagination and love. Till then though, I hope I’ve been able to make you smile and bring some positive energy to you.

What Does Organic Mean To You?

I’ve recently started to volunteer for the Organic Council of Ontario and one of the questions I’ve been asked is “Why do I choose organics?” It has got me thinking about why do I exactly choose to eat organically? So, I sat down one day and started to make a list of reasons why.

The majority of my working life has been spent in kitchens and/or food preparation. So, spending a spare day in the kitchen experimenting with a recipe is a real joy for me. By doing so, I have learned to have a relationship with my food. Eating organically gives me the knowledge of what I am putting into my body because I learn how it was grown and where it comes from. It is also a choice of sustainability. If I know that it is being grown without harmful substances, I know where it was grown will continue to be a fertile ground for continuous growth. I also try to eat as locally as possible, and I am thankful that I live in an area of the world that provide me with all the food sources I need, right at my doorstep.

By doing so, I am supporting the local economy and providing jobs within my community. Growing up in a small town, I learned how important farming is. So, by choosing to eat as locally as possible I’m also building a relationship with my food and the vendors, whether that be the store or the farmer themselves. I get to learn where my food comes from and what it was fed. The vendors get to learn more about me and my needs and how to best supply them. I also get to support someone, who like myself, is a steward of the Earth.

Finally, organics may be important, but certified organics are even more so. My body is my vehicle through life and food the fuel that keeps it well maintained and healthy. There are a lot of products that claim to be organic, but aren’t tested with set standards. If I drove a car, I wouldn’t want to take it to someone who wasn’t educated as a mechanic, so why would I want to eat food that was grown in an environment that was help up to strict standards.

As you can see, each reason is related to each other, as it should be. If they weren’t you would be able to remove one of the factors and not have it affect the others. Eating locally and supporting the local economy are important to me in my choice to be sustainable.

This is why I choose organics. What does organic mean to you?

Side Effects

A few months ago, I came across an article about a live window display that LUSH Cosmetics was running in the UK. They placed a woman in her mid-twenties in a body suit in the window display and subjected her to the same treatment and tests they do in chemical labs testing on animals. The full article can be read here: http://bit.ly/JnZUbb.

Now, I’m no intense animal rights activist, but it did get me thinking. Why are we testing on animals? Do we have to use products that are not found in nature? Are we going to react to the chemical the same way the animal does? Is there an alternative?

Then, my next thought moved not to just chemical for hygiene products, but medicinal uses as well. Think about the last time you heard or read an ad for a prescription drug. The list of possible side effects is sometimes worse than what you are trying to cure yourself of.

I do understand the need to test these products before they hit the market because of liability issues. We all suffer from different ails, aches, and pains, but not all of us are held captive. The prison population could be a valuable resource to medical science. We provide them food, shelter, and healthcare.

The government, through different funding programs, also helps with medical research. So, as a cost-cutting measure, could we not use prisoners as test subjects instead of animals. I’m not saying every prisoner should be subjected to it, nor am I suggesting they be tested for something they are not suffering from. What I am suggesting, however, is that say prisoner X is needing care for a chronic disease, instead of receiving normal treatment, should we not be testing a new drug on them?

Also, there would be a time limit. Products and drugs both have short and long-term side effects. For a prisoner to be used as a test subject, there would have to be a minimum sentence they would be serving before being subjected to the tests. For example, Prisoner X and Y both suffer from arthritis. Prisoner X is serving a 15 year term and Prisoner Y, 5 years. Prison X would be used for the testing, and Prison Y would receive the normal treatment.

I’m not a full supporter of capital punishment, but if we were to have it, would it not be better to learn something from it rather than just kill them right off. And if the tested cure actually works, is it not a better idea to have found that out by helping a person out rather than subjecting an animal to the same trials? There is still a lot to be figured out, and it leaves a lot of grey areas, including questioning any points of ethics, but I see this as a viable option.

Lost, Love, and Living Unlinked

It has been a long time since I posted last, so I thought it was time I give an update to what has happened in my life since my last writing. It is an adventure filled with intrigue, a long soul-searching journey through an uncharted wilderness, demons, and as every good fantasy has at the heart of it, a love story involving a fair-haired maiden with beauty that cannot be matched. So, grab your favourite storytime snack, a comfortable place to snuggle up in, and let me begin to tell you of my travels.

Ecogeek and the Demonomic Plague

Our journey begins in February, while employed, I have been moved from my production role to that of a cleaning servant. I very much enjoy only being moved around, as it means that I am still with vocation. But only after a fortnight in my new role, it is found that I will be soon moved out from my role as a cleaning servant to that of being placed in the holding stocks where no coin shall be received for there is no work to be had. All the while, I continue to drudge away at my books, and papers to keep up with the demands of a higher education. With being placed on hold though, it means that I must put the higher education on hold to make sure I can provide for myself and keep Sheriff William Paiemont from knocking on my door.

The Journey Through the Court of Assistance

Because of being placed into the holding stocks, it means that I must seek an audience with one of King Harper’s squires to request coin in assistance through these rough times. Here begins a battle that should not have happened. I filed with the squire and the squire returned asking for the same information that I had already provided for him, so I sent him away to locate this information in the Kingdom’s archives. Another fortnight passes, and I have yet to hear word on my request.

So, I let another sevens days pass, and then question as to why this squire seems to be so tardy in his reply. I travel down to his office and inquire as to why I have been left without information.I hear from one of the squire’s assistants that I have to reapply and fill out a secondary form if I would like to receive any coin. Frustrated as I may be, I file all the proper documentation and await, again, to hear from this squire. As time passes, I receive word that I am required back in my role as cleaning servant, so I return to my vocation and still await word. Once more, a fortnight passes, and I receive word from the squire that I should have long ago received coin, and he profusely apologizes for the grave mistake.

Sheriff Paiemont and the Forest of Notemployia

All during this time seeking audience with the King to receive coin, my inventory starts to become low, and Sheriff William Paiemont becomes uneasy with my empty purse. So, I go into hiding into the Forest of Notemployia with only a few garments, my scroll and quill, and my carrier pigeon in search of a new vocation.

I traveled as cheaply as I could, sometimes joining the masses on wagon, and others hitching a ride on the bottom of a cart. I searched high, and low, but alas, nothing could be found to fulfill my needs. Near the beginning of this journey however, while trying to catch a wagon, I noticed that I have lost my quill. With my purse being close to empty, and needing to nourish myself, I decide it best that I not replace the lost quill, and just use my carrier pigeon in my pocket for my sole form of communication with the outside world. It was a hard adjustment, but one that had to be made for the time being.

I lost communication with some, and some tweets were lost altogether, but it did provide a great resource in keeping in touch with a maiden that I will speak of later. My carrier pigeon was also handy for relaying information that I was to return to my role as a cleaning servant.

The Beauty of the Gods

While along my travels through the forest, I was able to keep communication with a maiden of unmatched beauty who I considered a close friend. We communicated first by messenger, then by pigeon. Then, one weekend near my return to the Kingdom, I was able to sneak in and communicate in person with my fair-haired maiden. I came in under the cloak of darkness, and we started talking. Time seemed not to matter to either of us, and before we new it, the sun was rising once more. We continued this pattern for a couple more nights, and I started to realize that my heart was slowing becoming attached to her.

I do not know why I hadn’t seen it before. Hair so soft and silky, eyes that sparkled like the stars, and best of all, a smile that seemed to leave with no cares in the world. I must have been a mad man not to have noticed in the past. So, I kindled a romance with this maiden that leaves even Aphrodite herself envious and realized that I had been missing something all along. it wasn’t my quill, but part of my soul.

Return to Daily Life

Now, I sit here, telling you this story with never have been happier in my life. I continue in my vocation, but being moved once more into another role. I have settled my affairs with Sheriff Paiemont and no longer seek audience with the King for coin. And most importantly of all, my heart swells, almost bursting out of my chest, with a smile on my face that you could not erase. I have found the inconceivable, true love.

I hope you all are well and are just as happy in your lives. I now bid you adieu with one final word:

 

As you wish.

Wi-Fi Flushing

The other day, I found this article about the problem of dog escarpment being left on the ground in Mexican parks and one companies clever solution. They have placed a few waste receptacle in these parks, that when used, give a free Wi-Fi signal. The amount of time given depends on the weight of the waste. Yes, there will be some people who still drop regular waste into these bins to try to get a free signal. Is this such a bad thing though? Cleaner parks are a great thing.

I thought this was an ingenious idea, and started to think about it a bit more myself. I think I may have just found a new business venture. Because of having Crohn’s Decease, I spend a lot of time on the toilet. Why should I not make better use of this time? I’ve decided I’m going to look into buying one of these mobile Wi-Fi weight sensors, connect it to an existing wireless carrier with a data plan, and start offering to some by people’s houses, offices, parks etc. and squeeze out a log or two for a small, nominal fee or what I’m going to dub FeeCall. It would even be the latest in wireless protocol using the new 802.11p standard. And for those looking for a touch of the past, book 12-24 hours in advance. I’ll eat some popcorn or other clogging food and add screams of sheer agony in the patterns of the old dial-up sounds. The sounds will end once the waste has been passed and weighed, providing a signal.

I think this could be really popular. I could become the King of WiFi, sitting upon the world’s porcelain thrones. My company/services name?

WiFical: Creating a New Meaning to Shitty Signals.

Feeling Flush: Feeling Testy?

Trip 2

Last I left you, I had just been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in the ER and referred to a specialist. So, let’s continue on my journey of discovery of what this diagnosis means.

Information Overload

Going to the specialist for the first time was an interesting trip. I sat, somewhat nervously, in the waiting room waiting for my turn. I was called, and was shown to one of the exam rooms. Then, more waiting, patiently for the doctor to arrive. I brought my mom with me, knowing that I wouldn’t catch everything that was said, and I didn’t want to miss anything. The doctor finally arrived, and I was shocked from the beginning. Here stood a doctor that had to be in his mid 40s at his oldest and I was expecting someone in their 60-70s. Not that I say anything wrong or was put off by having a doctor so young, it just surprised me.

He introduced himself, and we got along really well right from the start. It’s one of the things I have learned through my experiences is that you not only have to be able to trust your doctor, but be able to get along. After the quick introductory conversation, he started into the important information, what is Crohn’s and what I was going to do. The first thing I learned is that they don’t know what causes it, so there is no set cure/solution. Only treatments that help alleviate the pain and discomfort. There were many different options, but I was going to start off with the lightest to see how my body would react. Then, we talked about my medical history, and some basic body scans. This is where is got interesting. He wanted to do an anal scan which involved a “bend and cough”. It was a bit uncomfortable, but didn’t take long to be over. Then, I left the office with my new prescription and a bit of a waddle. My mom asked me if I was alright which to my reply was “Now I know I’m not cut out to stand on street corners”.

Hunger Gaming

Now at home for a few days, I started to research on my own what Crohn’s was. As I said, they don’t know what exactly causes Crohn’s, but there are many theories to what does. One thought is that it is the increase in processed foods such as fast food, and frozen dinners. This made sense to me seeing that a lot of it includes man-made fillers and chemicals in higher levels that really don’t belong in the body. With this new information, I moved onto finding out how to change my diet to make it easier on my body. Just like anything else though, what I react to may not be the same as what someone else reacts to. I had to personalise this diet to my own reactions. Reading on some of the diets online though, most of them stated that foods such as leafy greens, peas, corn, apples, and eggs were foods that didn’t help because they were hard on the system, or caused excess gas. After creating a list of what I could eat, what was I left with? The processed foods of course. Life is evil bitch sometimes.

I Swear I Don’t Have A Drug Issue

Now done with the diet research somewhat, I could move onto the drugs. Oh, how they can pillage your sanity. I went to pick up my prescription from the pharmacy only to so white with fear. Sticker shock had set in. It turned out that my pills were going to cost me around $300/month. Having no drug plan, this was a lot of money, but it was still doable. I went back home and started to look into my options for assistance from government programs. Let the red tape games begin. I found out about Trillium, the Ontario Government’s drug assistance program. I looked through the application and it said that I had to include my mom’s income because I was still at home. I found this odd, because I was paying rent to her, and bringing in my own income. Essentially being completely independent. I still sent it in, and looked into other assistance programs. I found out that I could get help from a municipal program as well. I applied, but because I had taken OSAP for my college courses, they saw me as an independent, so the money I was going to receive from them was not going to match the provincial program. What was the gap? $900/quarter, or $300/month. So, here I sat back at square one, not really getting any assistance. I say this, but I am certainly not complaining. I consider myself extremely lucky that I live in such a great country such as Canada that provides free basic healthcare for all it’s citizens and social assistance programs to help when that isn’t enough. There are many, even the industrialized world, that are not as lucky.

Till Next Time…

I shall not bore you anymore for now. You must have many other things to do other than read all this. Stay in touch, and I shall continue this story another day.

Games, Fun and The Trouble It Can Cause

I love the people I’ve been able to connect with over the years. There have been many that, sadly, I have lost touch with. This is partly due to the fact of that your group of friends usually completely changes every 7 years or so, with only one or two lasting through the transition. It is my some of my current friends that give me the most joy.

We get into extremely quirky and geeky things together, mainly focusing around games. During the summer, we not only played Bananagrams, but you had to turn your Bananagram into a story using all the words you had spelled. Then, we took it one step further with creating a rule that the word must be dirty or sexual in nature. This only, in turn, creates the best possible outcome (outcum?) for the most hilarious stories.

For example:

Her cunt yearned for the load coming from his rod, which was beneath is loins, so she tagged him and whispered in his ear, "let's go back to your pad".

We’ve also become accustomed to playing what we like to called pictionary telephone. You start out with a blank piece of paper and sit in a circle. You write a thing for someone to draw, and pass it on in the direction that the circle is going. You then, draw what is written, and fold over the text so that when you pass it, the person has to try to guess what the original text was given the drawing. It continues until there is no more space on the paper.

These games are extremely fun, and now have begun to filter in my Facebook (FB) world. Today, a friend created a new group to post silly things, or to play little games. The first challenge being to write a silly poem. I got excited about this, seeing as I’ve gotten back into writing poetry again. Gladly, because it is silly, it was a lot easier to come up with, and didn’t need to conform many rules. I thought it was too good just to keep to the FB group, so I thought Id share it with you all outside of the walled garden.

Poems can be very, very silly.
Poems can be about pretty lilies.
Poems can be full of wit.
Poems can be about a Brit.

This Brit could have a funny walk.
This Brit could own a pet hawk.
This Brit could pace around a lot.
This Brit could sit and bang a pot.

The sound it makes would fill a room
The sound it makes would be my doom.
The sound would give me a gnarly headache.
The sound causes the need for a pill to take.

To the bathroom I must wander.
To the bathroom is where I ponder.
To the bathroom to find new joy.
To the bathroom not to be coy.

For it’s here I sit upon my throne.
For it’s here I never feel alone.
For it’s here where I read the most.
For it’s here, I now wish, I had some toast.

Flush away all my worries and fears.
Flush away all my soul filled tears.
Flush away, watching the water swirl
Flush away, so I can I dance and twirl.

Dancing gives me great happiness.
Dancing causes a feeling that’s best.
Dancing releases your soul for the world to see.
Dancing can me so much to me.

So, I leave with this final thought.
It is my own, for it’s not bought.
Joy and happiness provide a life fulfilled.
They’re the tools to a foundation that you can build.

I’m looking forward to the next challenge in this group. All the other poems posted so far are very intriguing and quite amusing.

Speaking of challenges, there is one final game I’d like to mention quickly. I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like, but it’s Word Association. Whenever travelling and have time to spare, I hop on Twitter and announce that I’m going to be playing #WordAss soon, @ me if you want to play. It usually a great time killer, and can provide many laughs. I started doing it about 2 years ago, and thoroughly enjoy it. It’s not just fun, but also a great way to learn about a person. What makes them tick? Why’d they make that connection? Pay attention to my Twitter and maybe we’ll be able to play next time.

There are always new games, or new ways to play a game you already know. The world is endless with possibilities with the only boundaries being your imagination. Have any ideas for me? I’d love to hear them.

2011 in Review: Ecogeek to Econgeek

So, it’s that time of year again. We’ve come to the end of December and we are all preparing for the approach of the end at this time next year. I’ve had some free time to reflect on my past year, see what I’ve achieved and what I haven’t. Surprises and pitfalls, and the way I dealt with it all.

I achieved a first this year that I thought would never happen: being employed by only one employer throughout the whole year. This doesn’t say that I lose jobs frequently, but I like to keep busy and am a bit of a workaholic. I’ve held a few jobs for multiple years, but usually either switched jobs mid year, or was working more than one job at once. I enjoyed having only one employer. It not only made my schedule easier to plan around, but also gave me security. In the current economic times, you can’t act for anything better.

Again, Twitter and swing were a large part of my life socially. The year started off with not really knowing anyone in town with the exception of the swing community and family. Then, a few months in, I found out about @lnmg and their monthly meetups. My social world exploded after because of all the wonderful people who I’ve been able to encounter. As for swing, I continued making connections with people and building long-term friendships, improving my skills, and for the first time, teaching a beginner lesson.

2011 brought in with it new ventures and challenges by going back to post secondary at Queen’s for Economics. It has been a great learning experience that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I haven’t just learned about a new, interesting topic, but a fair amount about myself as well, and my determination. I’ve always been a bit of a procrastinator and getting rid of those bad habits was a struggle at first, but I kept at it and was able to succeed. Not to the level I’d like because I set unattainable goals for myself a lot, but it has been a pleasant surprise to find out what I am capable of, and that I did better than I tought I would.

The year was not without its mistakes though. To err is human, right? Most were small with not much affect, but there are others that weren’t so easy to fix. We always learn from our mistakes and become better people because of them. Sadly, there is a mistake that I made this year that I don’t think will ever be completely fixed. These, also, are bound to happen and I know that. I really do hope that I am wrong though, and that the saying of “Time heals all” rings true.

It’s best not to dwell on the past though, and look forward to the possibilities that await you. Now as I look to 2012, I already have many opportunities in front of me that leave me scratching my head on how I am going to be able to do it all. Some of these include continuing challenges from this year, such as work, Queen’s, and swing, but I also now sit as a @lnmg organizer. Life isn’t lived unless you challenge yourself to your outer limits though, so I look forward to the future, for it is very bright.

Asteroids do tend to be bright as they burn up entering Earth’s atmosphere.

Feeling Flush: Living with Crohn’s Decease in Frequent Trips

TRIP 1

Living with any disabilities, whether seen or not, can make life challenging but it is how you approach the situation that matters. My story of Crohn’s starts around seven years ago, if you include hindsight, and five if you count from when I was diagnosed.

The Lead Up

Growing up, I was always a bit on the heavier side. At first, it lead to being bullied. Then, as life went on, I was able to develop a dry wit and a great sense of humour, turning the taunts and pokes (pokes did exist before Facebook kids) into jokes, and often self deprecation . As I finished secondary school and moved onto post secondary, I think I ended up eating a couple of freshman, because that 15lb rule didn’t apply to me.

A couple of years went by, then I decided a life change was in order. I started cutting out the fatty foods, and soft drinks in my diet. I also went back to being more active and started walking everywhere again. I didn’t realise any  big change until I went to buy jeans the end of that summer and my usual size was falling off. Somehow, I had lost 50lbs. In hindsight though, I realise that it wasn’t my life changes that brought this on, but the start Crohn’s developing in my GI tract. Some of the symptoms were showing then as well, such as waking up with extreme leg cramps in the middle of the night. It wasn’t until the Christmas two years later that I started having the more severe conditions.

It was Boxing Day, and I was sitting gleefully enjoying a new book when all of a sudden I had an intense pain in my abdomen which keeled me over, and was starting to have cold sweats. This happened a few times that day, but then stopped. I woke up the next morning, not feeling the best and with a low, dull pain on my side. I went to work anyways, because I needed to. Halfway through my shift, I felt so weak that I had to sit down, where I sat for 15 minutes without feeling any better. I decided then that it was time to leave work, and get myself to the hospital.

Waiting…

There I sat at the hospital, late at night, waiting to be seen, and in discomfort. Finally, I was ushered into a room where I sat and waited again to be seen. Then the doctor came in, talked to me for a bit, and then had a couple of blood tests run. Then I was moved back to the waiting room, to sit calmly until the results came back. After about two hours of painful waiting, the doctor came by and said that they were going to be sneding me for a CAT scan. A CAT scan?! What in the heck had I done? I apprehensively went for the scan, then returned to the room to…anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I returned to the room to wait once more. Again, after a long time had past, the docotr return a final time to tell me that he thought I had Crohn’s or Colitis. He referred me to a specialist and sent me on my way.

I’ve been very lucky in the sense that I was diagnosed right away. I know of a lot of other stories where, sadly, it isn’t the same. Next time, I shall continue the story with how I initially dealt with my diagnosis and how it has changed my life. Sometimes for the better, others not so much.