Introduction:
My name is Ryan Mossburg, 23 years old. I am a student and a pizza delivery boy. I am an avid skateboarder, guitarist, and unfortunately a food junkie. I love to travel and just hang out with my friends.
My Symptoms:
I have abdominal cramps, bloody stool, extremely frequent painful bowel movements(about 15 a day) , headaches, fatigue, dizziness and light headedness.
My Story:
I was just diagnosed with UC 4 days ago on 4/25/12. This was my second flare up but due to the ridiculously long time it takes to get into a doctor I was not diagnosed the first time. In October of 2011 I started having bloody stools, frequent bowel movements, and painful stomach cramps. At first I thought i simply had an infection, so I went to the ER to get checked out. They did blood work and i had a CT scan of my GI tract and nothing turned up, so they had me make an appointment with my current doctor. Well, I wasn’t able to get in until December. I almost lost my job due to having lost so much work due to my symptoms (that was at Red Lobster, now i have a better job with a small pizza shop with a boss who actually cares). By the time I got in to see my doctor my symptoms had cleared up and he said i had a slightly high white cell count when i went to the ER and that it was probably just an infection. He told me to call back if any of my symptoms come back. So about 4 months go bye and around the end of March I start having another flare up but this time it seems much worse.
I had alot more blood, I was going to the bathroom about 15 times a day,
I had headaches all the time, and after a few weeks I had become very fatigued
and started getting dizzy anytime i would stand up.
I went back to the doctor and made an appointment with my GI specialist and eventually made an appointment for a colonoscopy. It was about six weeks from the time i saw my doc till my colonoscopy. about two weeks before my procedure I had gotten so bad that I could hardly get off my couch. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t go to the skatepark or feel strong enough to even socialize, and didn’t even want to leave my house for fear of being in a situation where i wouldn’t be able to find a bathroom. The night before i was going to be scoped I was going through the prep, e.g. laxatives and liquid diet and what not.
Around eleven o’clock that night I decided to take a shower and make an attempt at some sleep. Because of my condition I had been showering sitting down because I couldn’t even stand for long enough to wash myself. I stood up to dry off and when i did I got very dizzy and almost completely lost consciousness. I fell down and knocked my head off the door. My grandma had to come in and help me sit up while naked. She helped me get dressed and took me to the hospital.
I had lost so much blood over the previous two months that my hemoglobin levels were 5.6 percent when they should have been more like 12-14. I had to have a blood transfusion and was hospitalized for 5 days. I had the scope and was diagnosed with UC. After the blood transfusion and talking to the docs I was in high spirits due to feeling better after feeling like total crap for the past month. They prescribed me anti-biotics, prednisone, and asacol and said it wasn’t a big deal and that I will be fine. I got out of the hospital and went to fill my prescription and this is where my good vibe took a nose dive. I went to pick up my meds and found out my script for asacol was about 550 dollars for a one month prescription and are not covered by my insurance. I am very stressed out because I am a student with a minimum wage job who lives at home. There is no way I can possibly afford this, and I am a nervous wreck just thinking that i may end up back in the condition i was in. aparently alot of people have this same issue, but any support and suggestions would be very much appreciated. I can’t help but feeling totally helpless like I am being forced into slavery by Proctor and Gamble.
Where I’d Like to be in 1 year:
written by Ryan
My name is Ryan Mossburg, 23 years old. I am a student and a pizza delivery boy. I am an avid skateboarder, guitarist, and unfortunately a food junkie. I love to travel and just hang out with my friends.
