IBD is NOT sexy. AT ALL.

Thank God for support from friends, family, and my boyfriend.

WAIT. Boyfriend? Who wants to date a girl with a poop disease? Apparently my current boyfriend.

I’m gonna backtrack a bit here….

When I first got sick a little over a year ago, I was already dating this one guy. He was super sweet and supportive when I was in the hospital for over a month and I looked like I had a fat suit on from all of the steroids that were pumped in me. And I can’t imagine what it must have been like to go through that when someone you care about is in pain. (I’ve come to realize that my disease is most harmful to everyone I love.) I have to give that kid props. He stuck it out with me through it all. But eventually, things didn’t work out anymore. He liked that I relied on him for support and when I started feeling better and wanted to see friends and go to school, he wasn’t the center of my attention all the time. It became too much for me and we ended things. Now he has a girlfriend that he seems to be very happy with and I’m genuinely happy for him.

In between that guy and my current boyfriend there was one other guy… I actually met him at my hospital and we have the same disease. You would have thought it’d work out great but it didn’t. We still talk occasionally and we’re civil so that’s nice. (((Prayers for his upcoming surgery)))

That brings me to my current boyfriend. We started out as friends but it started turning into more and we started dating. I knew that we would have some sort of relationship whether it be as friends or more than friends. Why? When we started talking about what was wrong with me, the first thing he said was, “GIRLS CAN POOP?!” Although odd, this meant more to me than I think he realizes.

A big part of my life right now is being sick. I make more trips to the ER in a month than you probably will in your entire life. In having any sort of relationship whatsoever, that needs to be understood. And although it may be hard to deal with sometimes, my current BF is doing great. He tries his hardest to understand and he doesn’t think I’m gross. It’s pretty nice!

Funny Story.

Ask anyone with IBD and you’ll learn it’s inevitable that you’ll have an accident at some point in your life. Especially after surgeries when your butt has been retracted to the circumference of an orange. Or even so called “normal” days when you still have constant diarrhea. When you have days like this, nothing can fix it except a little Immodium and LOTS of Depends. You know those old people diapers? Yea. I was absolutely mortified when I knew that after surgery I’d have to wear them. Mainly, I was afraid of what my boyfriend would think. When I told him why I was so embarrassed, I got the best response. He says, “awwwh,” with an ornery smile on his face….. then proceeds to ask if he could wear one too. HA!  This kid makes me smile. :]

IBD is NOT sexy. AT ALL. But it’s nice when you have supportive people around you who could care less about it. Thank you to everyone who has loved me just the same whether I have a bag on my stomach or I’m running to the bathroom 10 times a day.

– Liesl Marie ♥