Watch TV series

When you have Crohn's it's more likely that you have to stay at home more often just because you're to sick or to tired. I know.. it sucks! When I first became really sick I needed some distraction or just something, anything to make the day go faster and forget about the pain. I have this big black screen in my livingroom called a TV and he became my new friend to keep me company. Hmm.. sounds kind of pathetic really haha.. Anyways I think you know what I mean;) In the Netherlands, were I live, there is lots to watch during primetime and not so much during daytime. That's why I started watching TV series I always wanted to see but never got around to. So this will be the first and easiest way on 'How to keep yourself busy'.

Here are some of my favorite TV series:

If you want excitement, shootings, murder and brilliant stories:

• Breaking Bad
• Homeland
• 24
• Dexter
• Boardwalk Empire

If you want something with fairytales or superheroes:

• Once upon a time
• Heroes

If you just can't get enough of hospitals:

• House
• Grey's Anatomy

If you would like some English drama seen from a Heritage household with Lords and servants:

• Downton Abbey

And if you just want some fun and humorous entertainment:

• Modern Family
• Frasier
• Glee
• Coupling
• Extras
• How I met your mother

Warning: this series may be addictive, so don't blame me for not getting enough sleep;)
If you would like to know more about a serie and what other people think of it, check IMDB.

My first symptoms

I think I was 15 years old when I started to have bowel problems: pain, diarrhea, feeling sick, feeling tired, my belly would swell up and shock from time to time. I have been to my doctor many times and she had all kinds of explanations: you may have a virus, you may have a lactose intollerance 'I will send you to a dietistion', you may be stressed, it might be your period, etc.

I think I was 18 years old when she finally gave it a name: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I wasn't really sure if I was happy with this diagnose, I still think it's a made up name for symptoms they can't name. 'Oh it's something with your bowel? Well than we know what you have, IBS'. An easy way on how to put people at ease because we tend to need names for our symptoms to cope with it.

But even I never thought that I would have something like Crohn's disease, because in my mind those people where really sick and as I mentioned earlier, very skinny and I was a normal size girl, and if I would eat everything that I liked, I could grow pretty fast. I couldn't eat anything I liked, my bowel would protest, but I never compromised on food, I would eat what I liked, even if it would mean my bowel would hurt or I had to find the nearest bathroom really quick. I just thought this was semi-normal and I just had to deal with it.

About 4 years ago my bowel really started to hurt, swell up, I felt sick and it just wouldn't stop. We even thought that I might be pregnant, but the test was negative. So again I went to see my doctor. She wanted me to draw some blood. The result came in a few days later and it showed an infection. So my doctor prescriped me some antibiotics and after almost 3 months I started to feel better.

When I would go on holidays I always made sure I had pill's against diarrhea with me and was hoping I wasn't going to be to sick this time. Not like I can't do anything sick, but just not feeling very well.

It was the same with going away by car. Unconsciously I know every gas station with a toilet along the roads. I thought everybody knows that, but when I ask people, they don't. They even start to laugh when I tell them this. Guess it's not that normal.. haha.

So I have had al sorts of symptoms and discomforts since I was a teenager, but I just didn't really know any better. That was just part of me, and everybody has stomic pains from time to time, right?

When I was diagnosed with Crohn's it all fell in to place. Maybe I wasn't just a lazy teenager, I just needed the extra sleep. And maybe that's why I had the flu more often than other people. And more obviously that's why I had the bowel problems and pain.