| Since that time, I have read just about all of the books on the topic as well as hundreds of medical studies on a variety of IBD-related issues. Because of my experience, I have taken the information that I have learned and assembled it in a way that is easy to grasp. To accomplish this, this book will take you through the first year of diagnosis, first day by day, then week-by-week and finally month-by-month. The facts will not be dumped on you at once. Instead, it will add bits of knowledge and coping skills layer by layer, walking you through helpful tips and strategies for negotiating daily life as well as information about the disease and its treatment. It is designed for you to read a chapter at a time, so you can-no pun intended-digest and absorb the information slowly. Realize, however, that this disease is not a linear progression of symptom A and symptom B leading to result C. You may have started out with a life threatening symptom or no symptoms at all. You may need absolutely no surgery in your entire life or you may need multiple surgeries. In any case, it is important to gain as much knowledge about the condition so you are able to notice signs and symptoms and participate more fully in the treatment of the disease. As you gain this knowledge and, hopefully, some confidence in dealing with your illness, the book will delve deeper into issues that may have been previously touched on. So, for example, the ostomy mentioned earlier will be dealt with more thoroughly in Month 4. Each chapter is broken down into two sections, Living and Learning. The Living portion will focus on things you can't necessarily learn from a medical book or study. This is subjective information, gleaned from my experience and from other individuals who also have a form of IBD. For example, at no time have I ever read anything about surviving the prep for the colonoscopy, supposedly the worst part of the arduous test. And nowhere was there information on how to cope with an accident in public. Those are things health professionals most likely don't know about since they have gone through it themselves. I hope you learn from these portions that there are others who have been where you are now and survived. I also hope you learn practical tips for daily living and that these impart a certain confidence in being able to handle your disease. Further, I hope that you learn that this disease is a small part of who you are and that life plans can be made in spite of it. The other section of the chapter, Learning, contains more of the medical science and history of inflammatory bowel diseases. This is objective information, drawn from studies, medical textbooks and numerous other sources. Surgical options, medications and their effects, genetics and other topics will be covered. This differs from the Living portion in that the Learning section will talk about a test and the Living portion will tell you what you can do to make it easier, for example. In some sections the Learning portion will come first while in others, the Living will precede the Learning. I have tried to make the Learning section as thorough but as easy to understand as possible without insulting your intelligence. That is why a subject introduced in the first sections may not be dealt with until later weeks or months. Most likely, a foundation has to be laid first to understand that concept. If you have trouble understanding certain words, you may want to check out the glossary in the back; all words in boldface can be found there. Click here to continue reading First Year: Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis. All information is copyrighted by Jill Sklar, 2002. All rights reserved. |