24 hour comic (everything you never wanted to know about crohns disease)
So, somehow I managed to complete the 24 hour comic within 24 hours. I’ve scanned it in and left it pretty much untouched in terms of spelling errors and the like. Editing it in that way seems to go against the principles of the thing. I have, however, made the colours sync up in photoshop. Some of my pens ran out forcing me to adopt different coloured pens during the process. Felt a shame to not correct this. I have to say, it’s fairly bad but I’m just quite elated I managed to make it though to the finishline. Let alone make anything readable.
Was it worth it? I certainly feel the challenge was a useful learning curve that has made me question how I produce comics normally. We’ll see how this affects my work over the next few months…
I may publish the comic later - as part of my anthology collection next year.
And here’s my very own 24 hour comic completion certificate…
Tom, you’ve been busy ‘aigh! Well done on the 24 hr comic. Had a read - turned out fab. Have fun at the next event you’re doing. x
tom this is brilliant. funny but very moving.
J.
this is hot shit thomas.
There’s more !
http://www.flickr.com/photos/just1page/sets/72157602556024748/
for photos of the event (and shortly a final report on the 24 Hour Comics Day website
excellent stuff.
Hey Tom,
Jesus man, that’s some comic. Amazing. Honest, funny and really moving. You’ve got some talent mate.
[…] [Comics] Tom Humberstone presents his 24-hour comic, in which he explains living with Chohns Disease. (Above: sequence from the comic, ©2007 Tom Humberstone. Link via the Forbidden Planet Blog.) […]
Hey man, I really enjoyed this piece. Some nice brush work, good art and engaging story. Loved the way you did thought ballons and the minimal color palette.
Wow, it’s great to read this! I’ve suffered stomach problems since I was about 12, too…never been diagnosed with Crohns, but people bring it up all the time. So, I turned into a work-from-home cartoonist, and all is well!
A good friend of mine who had Chrohns, went to film school and made movies and went on long shoots and somehow managed okay. There’s hope!
Thanks for writing this comic.
Great comic, Tom, and cheers for having the guts to draw attention to your Crohn’s. I’ve got it too … not severely, but it’s given me the opportunity to be on a first name basis with most of Western Canada’s better washrooms. I’ll send you a report, if you like.
I have nothing to add, really, except to say this is good. Keep doing your thing, man. You have a lot of talent.
I was diagnosed with crohns 20 years ago and I have to say just described my life. Especially the energy the prednisone gave me.
Thanks for doing this.
Tom,
Excellent comic. I have a GI condition and empathize with your struggles.
There is something you need to know.
There are emerging theories about GI diseases that show much promise but are not given the attention they merit. At present, the group most involved in this research is at a clinic in Sydney, Australia called the Center for Digestive Diseases. They are headed by Dr. Thomas Borody. Unfortunately, their web site, cdd.com.au, is mediocre, and they don’t have the staff to maintain it. They also do not consult with overseas patients, though I believe they will see you if you fly there.
In my experience, no one can really help you but you. So I urge you to visit their web site, read up on Dr. Borody’s work (you can Google it and get some results), and consider if there are potential treaments for you that your local gastroenterologist isn’t familiar with, or can’t/won’t offer.
I have no financial interest in this clinic, and no other interest besides seeing the research advanced and patients get better.
Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that all doctors are bad, or that they don’t have your best interests in mind. But Western medicine moves very slowly, and treatments that have potential don’t necessarily move to the top of the list. And doctors have egos.
If you need to chat further, post your email here and I’ll check back.
I’m weening off the pred right now, I will have to try and contain myself. It’s been 10 years since I was diagnosed and it’s great to read you comic. I’m sending it to my friends - cause no matter how much you explain it, people never understand. I actually video taped my colonoscopy last year and it was traumatic to watch but an attempt to understand my condition more (could you believe peter gabreils “Sledge Hammer” came on the radio in the O.R. during the procedure! ) Oh and nice brush strokes and all that stuff too! Amazing that was made in 24 hours. Mazel tov!
ps I got a stupid card from the crohns and colitis foundation of America that says “I NEED to use the bathroom” and the back explains crohns disease - like if a place won’t let you go then you show them that and they will?!?! I’ll send you a copy of it cause it’s not worth the $40 bucks I paid to join the CCFA
wow. you just described many years of my life. i have a similar IBD. nearly died from it. the bit about the alternative medicines and diet restrictions hit home for me. i remember eating rice bread, rice cheese, and rice for 3 months… turns out i’m deathly intolerant to soy! anyways. keep up the good work. loved the comic!
[…] 24 hour comic (everything you never wanted to know about crohns disease) | ventedspleen (tags: crohns crohnsdisease comic health medicine illness humor) […]
Thanks, I know the feeling, and about the comment on the card CCFA puts out it mainly for lads in school and the teacher is being a wanker and not letting you go. Then you pull the card like a trump. As for the CCFA they are far worth more then $40 year. They have been a hugh support system for me.
This is really great stuff.
This is great. I’ve known a couple of people with Crohn’s disease, but they’ve never really talked about it to me before. Thanks for the insight. Also, really great comic and I’d love to read more. I hope you put out a book someday.
Yes, thanks for the candid account. I’ll be passing this on to a friend with Crohn’s.
I like your comics very much. We have tryed to perform similar 24 hours for 24 pages of comics run here in Prague, but it turned out in one big party. Sure, it was fun and everything, but it was supposed to be comics drawing session ^_^
So well done, good work and keep it up. It’s awsome comics.
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Tom, I love your comic. I have lived with Crohn’s disease for the past 15ish years. At the beginning of this year I started a diet which has gotten me into remission and off the meds (6MP), and I’m pregnant, due in Decemeber and feeling great. The diet is called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet–maybe you’ve already heard of it or even have tried it. In any case, it has helped me and many others I know. Here’s the website if you are interested. Take care! www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info
Wow. I have a severe form of ulcerative colitis, and I’ve basically gone through all of the above, except for the nose-to-stomach nutrition. I’m doing much better these days, but well, we’re never w/o IBD for too long! Great work!
thank you everyone for reading and taking the time to let me know what you thought of the comic.
really appreciate all the feedback and it’s great to know people are reacting well to this.
i’m looking into possibly publishing it as a mini-comic soon.
thanks again for the support.
I really found that both entertaining and enlightening. Thanks for shedding light on this condition.
Wow, this is a excellent piece of work. As someone who grewup with Colitis I felt like I was reading my past! Over the course of 6 terrible years, lasting through high school and college, I tried so many different things to try to make it go away. At 21, around the time I became a vegetarian, all signs of it went away and it’s been 11+ years now. While Crohns and Colitis are different beasts I guess what I’m saying is, don’t give up hope!
I have Crohn’s as well and currently get remicade infusions every 8 weeks. I was as bad as you were at one point, but since i started it all of my symptoms have gone the way of the dinosaurs. I learned a few things along the way:
1.) Smoking cigarettes are the worst possible thing you can do with Crohn’s. Nicotine acts as an aggravating agent, causing symptoms to appear and worsen. (Conversely, nicotine has shown improvement in patients with Colitis.)
2.) Drinking alcohol isn’t much better than smoking, but unless you’re an alcoholic you don’t have to worry about that too much.
3.) I am stronger now than I have ever been and that is in part due to my bouts of illness and overcoming them.
I wish you the best of health and luck, and, please, look into remicade, it truly is a wonder drug.
I found the link to this post from waxy.org and at the risk of seeming like comment spam, I wanted to offer up this link for you to read more about stem cell therapy and Crohn’s… http://www.osiris.com/clinical_trials_prochymal_crohns.php
Good luck and great comic.
[…] 2. i just read a ‘made in 24 hours’ comic about crohns disease. it’s really good and sums up a lot of the experiences i had prior to surgery. unfortunately, crohns doesn’t have the ‘cure’ colitis does — namely, removing the offending organ (because crohns impacts both the large and the small intestines). the only exception to my experience in this story was the energy fro ‘roids. i was so sick by the time they threw me on them that i didn’t even notice — in fact, most of them seemed to almost make me feel worse. […]
A friend of mine passed this along to me. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s eleven years ago at the age of 22, though I had symptoms for years before that without realizing what it was.
This spoke to me in a very real, poignant way. Just wanted to tell you I thought it was fantastic - insightful, funny, kind of sad, but ultimately upbeat.
Aren’t auto-immune conditions just FUN? I’ve got some form of IBD but it takes something of a back seat to everything else, which I won’t enumerate for fear of people thinking I’m starting a dick-measuring contest. (But whoever said they roam in packs had it spot on.)
I’m glad they took you off the prenisolone (I assume); a friend of mine in her 40s has cataracts from prolonged use of it for her Crohns … which has understandably made me avoid it like the plague every time a doctor has suggested it to me for my efforts - besides the wondeful side effects I had in my youth of Must Eat Everything In Sight and, oh yeah, Can Bounce Off The Ceiling For Hours (which was at least helpful with those last-minute assignment-writing evenings).
I’ll be forwarding this to my friend, and I’d like to put it up on some of the other pain and other disability fora I’m on if you wouldn’t mind. (I assume that the reason I had to enter my email address was so you at least knew a real person sent this - if you could let me know if you’re cool with that it would be nice.)
Anyway, I always write novels in replies, so I’ll stop this one here.
Happy hunting.
[…] ventedspleen placed an interesting blog post on 24 hour comic (everything you never wanted to know about crohns ….Here’s a brief overview:So, somehow I managed to complete the 24 hour comic within 24 hours. I’ve scanned it in and left it pretty much untouched in terms of spelling errors and the like. Editing it in that way seems to go against the principles of the thing. … […]
I am usually hesitant to comment on this that I read, but this comic compelled me to write. First, lovely minimal use of color and fantastic, seamless narrative flow in the manner in which you have presented this comic.
The greatest comics I have read have been deeply personal stories of a person’s own life and personal travails, and this is one of the best. You know your subject matter (obviously) and this is a story that I can tell has been gathering for years in your brain, biding its time.
This release you describe as cathartic, but it is easily related-to by all humans; many do not have Crohn’s, but the underlying humanity of the message is universal.
Thank you for writing this and sharing it sir.
Loved your work. The way those simple lines of text convey true emotions and your overall positive way of thinking is truly admirable. Due to a somewhat similar childhood, I can truly relate to this and honestly wish you all the best. Be well.
Hi:
My step-father had Crohn’s. He died recently from complications from the strokes he’s been having for years; my mom (a nurse) suspects the medication he had to be on for the Crohn’s may have contributed to the TIAs. I never realized what he went through- he just dealt with it. This made me see what it must have been like for him. I was recently diagnosed with IBS (after having random attacks for years) so that also gives me a taste of what you are going through, esp. the part about the stomach pain, then the cold sweat, then the mad panic to find a bathroom QUICK! Luckily it doesn’t hit me very often, but I don’t think I could ever go back to teaching or working with kids, or any type of work where I wouldn’t be able to run to the bathroom when necessary. (I have medication but it only works some of the time.) It definitely gives you pause before you plan activities!
Best of luck to you- here’s hoping for a cure for all of these bowel problems. :)
The comic is fantastic! I’ve had Crohn’s for a year and a half, and I’m 18 now. What you described is exactly what I feel a lot of the time. Thankfully, I’ve never had to do the nose to stomach feedings, but I do get to give myself Humira injections, after failing every other medication (including Remicade) in this short time. Thanks so much for making this, and congratulations on completing it in 24 hours!
My mother has had Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis for over thirty-five years. It began when a doctor misdiagnosed her ruptured appendix. Ultimately, ten feet of her intestines were removed because they were completely shredded; for a while, she had an ostomy bag, while her transverse ileostomy was healing, but I never knew her when that was going on. She has had some exacerbations over the years. She takes medication (currently, Asacol, and something else), and though it impacts her life significantly, she literally refuses to slow down.
I have colitis and IBS. And several other irritating auto-immune things (fibromyalgia, blah blah blah). What the hell ever, this isn’t the end of the world for me, it’s just an annoyance, compared to what my mom’s gone through and goes through. But I used to be afraid for my mom because it was such a scary illness. Unpredictable. Secretive. Exhausting. Urgent.
My mom’s been happily married for just about 40 years. She and my father got married right before she got sick for the first time. Point being, I know how excruciating it can be to feel embarrassed and alienated socially because of a bowel illness/disease, firsthand and secondhand. But my mom has a high-profile job, a wonderful lifepartner, and all the friendship and family time she wants. I know things would have been very different if she had been sick starting as a kid. But I just wanted you to know that there are a lot of people (for instance, people who grew up with or in a family living with Crohn’s or another AI/bowel disease) who aren’t fazed by colonic interruptions. My father and my spouse are certainly amongst those people who know that a normal part of everyday life includes frequent trips to the bathroom and GI gymnastics.
Just thought I’d add my personal, normalized experience to my sincere appreciation of your comic. It’s fabulous. Congratulations, and thank you!
I have crohn’s disease. I urge you to get the book ‘Patient Heal Thyself’ by Justin Ruben.
I was in the hospital for a week because I had become severely anemic and dehydrated and my rest pulse was over 150 and I was having sever chest pains.
When I got out, I began to follow the diet and use the supplements, and I started improving almost immediately.
It’s been over a year and I have regained the 40 pounds that I lost, and I am competely recovered.
I have it too.. but not nearly as bad, because I don’t randomly poop.
But lying on the floor of the bathroom wanting to rip out your stomach or die isn’t fancy pants either.
Anyway, I have the raccoon eyes going on.. feel your pain :)
really enjoyed the comic..
xoxox
Sam.
Tom,
I too have Crohn’s, I really enjoyed your comic! I have to say my favorite part is “but all I can really think about is ‘ow ow ow ow’” I laughed, YES, I know this.
I plan on sending your URL to a few, so they can maybe understand it a bit more.
I have ulcerative colitis for about a year now. And I’m showing to my friends.
This made me happy, I have Ulcerative Colitis, and I understand the conversation with friends thing, I have had to hang up on my boyfriend numerous times because when you have to go you have to go now. I don’t know if this will reassure you, but it did me, there are people researching these diseases, I know of a few at my school (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis/St. Paul) and I also know of a few out in California. There’s hope yet.
Again, I really enjoyed the comic, very accurately and accessably said.
Yet another IBD (Ulcerative Colitis) sufferer(er-er) here. If there’s one thing that always makes me happy, it’s that someone else understands the mad bathroom smackdown dash, and has also possibly suffered the consequences of not making it. And it can always get worse, right? At least we’ve got the run of all the shitty puns.
Thanks for this.
This is an incredible way to describe exactly what it’s like to have Crohn’s! I’ve had it for over 20 years (I was diagnosed when I was 21 but had it a few years before- they couldn’t figure out what it was!). I wanted to share that last year I had a flare-up that wouldn’t stop, and I ended up having to have my colon removed. I now have a permanent ileostomy and I’ve never felt better in my life! No more bathroom ‘issues’ to deal with, no more pain and anxiety. I’m completely back in control of my body for the first time in over twenty years and it’s absolutely amazing. I guess I’m trying to say that ‘going under the knife’ and having an ostomy doesn’t have to be the end of the world, sometimes it can be the beginning of a new life. I thought having an ostomy would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me, now I think I might have saved myself a lot of pain and sorrow if I’d done it sooner.
Brilliant, I have UC but can really identify with with this cartoon, good to get it out and about! :>
Hi,
Recently diagnosed and really needed a good laugh. Could relate to some of what you were talking about. I hope to go into remission sometime soon. It get’s old real fast.
Awesome job dude. I’m in my 19th year of Crohn’s, so I can definitely relate…If you need ammo for expanding the comic here are some of my “favorites”:
1. Annual colonscopies, especially the vile stuff you have to drink to purge your system, which I can longer tolerate.
2. Small Bowel Series, anyone for a lead-laced strawberry shake?
3. Gas, gas, and more gas, I accidentally farted in some ladies face the other day at a Halloween party I was at with my kids. Good thing the music was loud, but what an embarrassment!
4. Not being able to finish what I’m eating before having to rush to the bathroom.
5. And my new number 1 “favorite”….kidney stones. Man I thought the pain from cramping was unbearable, that is until I experienced this IBD gift.
Well I don’t want to ramble, most of my other “favorites” you nailed already, so once again, great job!
[…] Link […]
[…] Link […]
[…] Link […]
really enjoyed your comic, and I’d love to see more from you!
[…] I don’t normally read comics, but given that this one was about the joys of Crohn’s which I have had for the past 15 years, it struck a chord. I think the only thing he missed out was the fact that you can produce pretty much any colour under the sun, when they are “investigating” what is wrong with you - though I am still working on blue! […]
I have Crohns for nearly 10 years and I do talk about it openly. It has really helped.
My husband forwarded me this website and it was fantastic to read and encompassed the pain, embarrassment and shredding of your dignity very well. It is hard to get the balance of pushing forward with your life and minding the disease right but it is worth the effort.
I got married in April of this year and had surgery 3 weeks later. An NG tube was a lovely image for my husband to have of his blushing bride. But he, my family and friends are brilliant.
We are planning on going travelling for a few years so I guess I will become acquainted with toilets the world over. I am not looking forward to the squats.
Greetings
Awesome, I speak as a 56 yo crohny whose fought the shit since was teenager.
Fight on, it gets better I found a soul mate despite it all
you have talent and voice thanx for sharing your vision its needed for those who have none to see
Enjoy the journey
WarLord
[…] […]
Fantastic work! I’d love to see this published by a Crohn’s advocacy/education organization - I think it would really help those newly diagnosed and their loved ones.
Yet another fellow digestive distress buddy here. I guess I’m lucky that I’ve never had a tube in my stomach, but we’ve never known what was wrong with me until these last few months… My doctor has called it “probably extremely severe IBS” after years of trying to find out what’s wrong with me. No specific disease with a name (we checked for colitis and crohn’s). Just the constant guess and check of “does this make me sick? yes. this? yes.” At my worst it was rice and veggies making me hurt.
So much of the last ten years has been what you described, and my parents just always thought I was “kinda sickly” and never looked into it. I hope see this comic and realize to pay attention to their kids and themselves. And to have some sympathy! If my folks had just been paying attention… sigh.
this cartoon will help my friends understand what chrohns is all about i was dignosed in 1994 have been through 2 pregnancys which put it in remission .but it is back.good work on the cartoon it tells it all . hopefully it will help people out the understand what chrohns is all about . for me i live on meds and take painkillers just so i can go out somedays.
Applause and more applause.
Excellent bit of educational comic write-ary.
[…] I did not realize the extreme personal pain a person with the disease lives with every day. […]
Tom–Excellent, moving comic. I’ve had Crohn’s for about 12 years, but fortunately didn’t become active till my 30s. Before my diagnosis, I spent much of year in misery and barely able to take care of my newborn son. But at least as an adult, you feel like you have a smidge more control over your life than when you’re in school–I really empathize with how diffiicult it must have been for you. (I “fired” a couple of doctors, for instance, which is something a kid usually isn’t in a position to do.)
I was also a total pred patient (for nearly six years) and almost laughed out loud at your description of how much energy you have (a big contrast to how lethargic I was before diagnosis/meds). After two rounds of Remicade, however, I went into a remission that’s lasted nearly six years (”remission” being defined as no Crohn’s meds–I still see my GI regularly and deal with some lasting artifacts of the active disease). Knock on wood for remission!
Thanks so much to this. And good luck to all of us with Crohn’s–we need all the understanding we can get. :-)
Tom,
I was sweating just reading your comic. I have suffered from Ulcerative colitis for years and have struggled to keep my sanity. My wife also struggles with IBD and we are hoping that none of our 3 kids are affected in the future. Just the mental anguish of having a disease that you can’t talk about at a cocktail party can become quite depressing over the years. Sounds like you have struck a balance with it however. I just got a grip on mine this year. Decided to nix the steroids - so far so good. Good luck to you in the future. I love the comic and the drawings- definitely sets the mood.
I “only” have IBS, but I can totally sympathise with the whole “being hyper-observant about toilets” thing.
Thanks so much for doing this - it’s really nice to know that other people deal with this sort of thing too.
[…] 24 hour comic (everything you never wanted to know about crohns disease) | ventedspleen […]
Tom,
As a fellow sufferer I can totally relate although mine didn’t start until my late 20s. Could you make a PDF version of this? I’d love to have a copy of it to share when people ask “what’s it like?”
Jim
Thanks for making such a wonderful comic. I have Crohn’s (diagnosed at 21) and I do comics also. I can’t think of what else to say. Thanks so much for creating this.
Thanks for sharing your talent! Your honesty made me laugh and cry. My 11 yr old son has fought Crohn’s for 2 yrs. He’s already done everything you mentioned including tube feedings… He also spends a lot of time reading and escaping into the sci-fi literature fantasy world. He’s now on anti-MAP meds and has regained 90% of his health. But the battle is not over. Keep up the good work. The more people understand the emotional side of the disease, the more they are likely to support research for a cure.
Tom,
I echo Amy’s sentiments (Amy said, on October 26th, 2007 at 1:49 pm) about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I too have Crohn’s and found great relief - the pain and diarrhea are gone. Think about that for awhile. I go out in public without thinking about it anymore. The diet can be tough as it demands complete adherence - no cheating at all, but it is so, so worth it. Again the website is www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info . The website is supplimental to the book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle”. Check out the book from your library and give it a read.
Good luck,
Paul Stocker
My partner was diagnosed with Crohns shortly after we met. This is the best description of what the disease can do both physically and emotionally that I’ve seen. I really hope you publish it and make it widely available. It would have been very helpful to have seen this in the early days, grim though it is.
Tom,
As a person dealing with IBS, so much of your work struck home. I luckily have not developed Chron’s, because IBS is difficult enough. Your art really hit a chord with me. The not wanting people to know, the akward social situations, the discomfort, the dread of the next attack, etc. It was honest, direct and heartfilled art, and I want to thank you for daring to put yourself out there. Best of luck with Chron’s and your work. Thank you again. Tracy
Wow! The artwork is beautiful, and I appreciated your honesty. Thank you for sharing your story with the world!
Well done - nothing to be embarrassed about….people should be supportive and compassionate of people with Crohns, IBS, colitis and other such things. I’m hopeful the the SC diet may be of help to folks…great job, Tom!
Thanks for doing this. People need to know what’s happening — those who have it, and those who are around them.
I got the C, had it begin around the age of 19. A doc told me it was stress, since I was just starting college. So I had a lot of stress for a few years, painful, cramping stress. I had amazingly toxic gas attacks, heard a lot of “Dude, what crawled up your ass and died?!?” It went away, came back, went away. At age of 35 I passed out in the middle of a play (couldn’t get up to use the restroom) due to massive internal hemorrhaging. Only then was I diagnosed.
I was able to ignore it for so long because it wasn’t as bad as other cases. Pills (prednisone for a year, now I just take Asacol) made it vanish, and a very careful diet is helping keep me in remission (five years now). A lot of yogurt, no abrasive fibrous things, no red meat, no ground meat (serious, stay away from that crap), lot of fish, no exotic beers (microbrew always gives me the bad trots), no milk. I’d recommend studying diet theories — some seem extreme, but I feel (again, my case is mild) that it’s just a matter of avoiding some things, going for others.
I really enjoyed your the cascade of images and your use of text in the comic was masterful.
well done.
Thanks for giving me a window into what my friend with Crohn’s has to deal with.
She doesn’t like to talk about it either.
Paradoxically, the more people understand, the less humiliating it would be to talk about… you do her and us a great service.
Oh and - nice style too!
I have Crohn’s, too. Thanks for doing this. I especially identify with what you say about others having it worse and feeling self-indulgent for complaining - I say that all the time. You know what? You’re the person who has it worse than me. I wasn’t diagnosed until an emergency resection at 25. Surgery made the Crohn’s all but go into remission (I recommend it over the SD diet any day). Complain away! Crohn’s sucks. I send you positive healing vibes and much gratitude and sympathy. And remember: everybody poops. Some of us just do it more than others.
did the comic get taken down? i would like to read it but no image(s) seem to appear.
Unfortunately I can’t see any images on your site; infuriating, as a friend sent me this link due to my interest in both Crohn’s (fifteen years and counting) and comics (obsessed!). I’ve read graphic novels where people used the medium to get across how life is lived with complex health problems, and how they effect us emotionally, and sometimes I’ve wondered about trying to do something like that myself. I love the fact that someone else has already done so. I’ve asked a friend to copy/paste the image link so I can see your comic for myself - looking forward to it!
Well, what do you know? The images appeared after I posted my comment! :) Maybe you just can’t see them at first if you came via an external link?
Anyway… words fail me. I nearly cried reading this, but you should think of that as a good thing. I recognised so much… the effect of steroids, the way your parents have to think ahead about stuff you don’t want to know about when you’re a kid, feeding tubes (amazing how perfect strangers of all ages feel they have the right to demand your medical history when you go around with an NG tube; nowdays I have a PEG, and though it has its problems, at least it’s hidden), embarrassment, wishing you had a mutant healing factor like Wolverine (I got into the X-Men when I was twelve, a couple of years into the Crohn’s - I’m 26 now), the gap between people not understanding and not always wanting to have to tell them stuff that would make them understand…
I think what you’ve done is very important, and I really hope you can get it published. It will help a lot of us by showing just how hard it is to live with Crohn’s, in effect saying the unsayable for many people. My boyfriend and I are big comic fans and will be buying our copies…
Whatever happened to the worms cure? Did that not work out? (Google: “Crohn’s+worms”).
I have it too. Thanks Tom.
Will leaving a reply make the images appear for me?
Hey Tom, good on ya.
For you and everyone else out there with Crohn’s, look into Humira if you haven’t. It works as well as Remicade without the infusion hassles. It isn’t perfect but I am at least down to 15mg of prednisone down from 60 or 80 pretty much daily for the last 10 years. I’ve had probably 8 resections so my particular case is somewhat aggressive but I actually found myself laying on my stomach the other day. It may not work for everyone, but I swear it is worth looking in to.
very nice
Hi - just wanted to say I think your comic is great - touching and true. I hope it helps you feel more at ease with your Crohn’s.
I was diagnosed a few years ago, in my early 20’s, and it was the hardest year of my life, in and out of hospital while they continued to mis-diagnose it, followed by surgery when they did.
Luckily I’ve not have a relapse yet, but it’s always stressful knowing it could reappear any day :(
Thanks for writing such an honest account. It’s good to know there are other people in a similar position :)
Cheers,
Hannah
Well done sir. I actually teared up a bit near the end, as I too have no social life and suffer from the agrophobia due to crohns… Been diagnosed now for 14 years, and thankfully no surgery. Thank you for doing this comic.
I don’t have Crohn’s, I have Ulcerative Colitis, but I suffer through the same things every day and this comic nearly brought me to tears in the middle of the University computer lab I’m sitting in right now. Thankfully your witty writing and excellent humor about the situation kept me from that. I’ve gone through so many of the things you depicted in this comic that it’s almost frightening.
But you’re absolutely right. It could be worse. Crohn’s and UC are two diseases you don’t hear a lot about not to mention diseases that are hard to talk about with other people because they’re so embarrassing. You did an excellent job of portraying what it’s like to have the disease without being whiny or depressing.
I can’t thank you enough for creating this comic… I’m certainly going to use it to help explain my own condition to people in the future.
It looks interesting but I can’t seem to see the comic!
[…] Anyway, here’s the link […]
Good art, but more importantly, great story. I’d heard about Crohn’s disease before, but never really understood what it was about. I’m glad you wrote this- the more we can understand about conditions like this, for which there is no cure, the harder we can work to cure them and ease the lives of people living with them.
Thanx for doing this great comic.
Bjorn from the Netherlands
Hey, thanks for the great comic! I’m 23, and I’ve had Crohn’s for almost 7 years. Most publications about the disease are so corny, but this one really hit close to home for me.
It can be hard to describe the intensity of the Crohn’s. People hear the word “stomachache” and figure it ‘aint no thing. When I was younger, I found ER nurses to be unsympathetic even after I explained my diagnoses. Teenagers have a hard time being taken seriously, and it is unfortunate that this disease usually appears around that time. You pretty much touched upon all of my common complaints (especially the “ow ow ow ow ow”). However, I also think one the greatest tragedies of the disease is how it effects your relationship with food. You either have to give up all the foods you love, or suffer every time you sneak that bowl of ice cream. I try to walk a middle ground between the two extremes, and I really admire the people who have managed to stick with the specific carbohydrate diet. Remicade has so far been the best option for me. Anyway, great job again, and best of luck with both your Crohn’s and your drawings!
Hey I really I would like to see this but the photos aren’t displaying.
thanks!
I have crohn’s as well. Mine didn’t manifest as ‘intestinal pain’ till I was around 30. Before that I had “extra-intestinal” symptoms such as asthma , eye problems and chronic upper respiratory infections. I spent much of my youth under a tent in a hospital trying to breath.
For the past 16+ years I’ve been battling intestinal pain and related symptoms. It does get better (and sometimes worse.) Remicade is great, but I had some reaction to it, so I’ve just switched to Humira. Now I get to learn how to self inject into my stomach — what joy.
Before reading your strip, I was feeling quite bad, but your words, wit and wisdom made me feel better today — thank you. I think I’ll share it with a couple of associates.
brilliant. i’m just discovering the wonders of ibs myself (yes i’m being ironic), and my partner has suffered it for the last 9 years, although he’s doing great almost witout symptoms for the last 2 years. people like him and you are my role models!!
thank you for your work, hope you get to publish it soon, putting it in a comic is so nice and helpful!!
all the best :)
….
Thanks for doing this. I also have Crohn’s but am very lucky in that my experiences along the lines of what you describe were confined to a period of mere months. Then I got remicade and have been 100% symptom-free for years. Crohn’s patients sometimes forget what 100% symptom-free really is but I mean it quite literally. I can eat absolutely anything and am a better endurance athlete than I was before Crohn’s hit. The progress on research and new drugs is quite amazing — rapidly approaching a cure. Support the CCFA (ccfa.org)!
I give a big thumbs down to the alternative therapies and magic diets though. One reason people get so convinced that these “worked for them” is because, like many chronic illnesses, Crohn’s has random ups and downs. When you hit a particularly low low is when you feel most desperate and try (IMHO) silly stuff like the “specific carbohydrate diet”. But after a low low is when you’ll naturally fluctuate back (called “regression to the mean”). So in your mind the crazy desperate therapy worked like magic. The plural of anecdote is not “data”!
Good luck and thanks again for the comic.
i have uc, and am trying to cram all my life into my remission as i can.
[…] Crohn’s comic from 24 Hour Comic day.More about the Wikipedia deletions as they relate to webcomics and the resulting protests. Slashdot has more. The Inquirer UK chimes in too. […]
this is really amazing! nice work.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
Thank you so much for this. It is so difficult to express what it is we go through, and you have done a wonderful job. And congrats on the 24-hour comic, too!
Crohn’s is fun. What is the real drag is when you get diabetes from the medication that isn’t really controlling the crohn’s.
I get to choose between healthy high fiber foods that rip through me, and soft fatty foods that crank up my blood sugar. Unlike most crohn’s people, my stomach pains seem to feel better when I eat, so I eat, and eat.
Great comic, wonderful drawings, dialog and lettering are top notch. Nothing is better than authenticity.
Thank you for sharing. I can see some teenagers printing it out and sliding it across the table when the questions come up. As for lucky: The more guts they take, the more I get. Keep truckin, brother.
I suffered with Crohn’s disease for years, from the age of 16 - 24. Then I got tested for food allergies — and I was allergic to a LOT more than just milk. Once I started avoiding all those allergens (eggs, soy, sugar, milk and a few other things) my so-called Crohn’s disease cleared up and has never been back since. The food allergy test cost me three drops of blood and $200 — and was the best money I ever spent. I encourage anyone else also suffering from digestive problems of any kind to have the same test done. See an allergist or a naturepath.
Wow. An excellent comic. I will keep my eyes open for your work.
I have a relatively bad case of ulcerative colitis. I was first diagnosed about 4-5 years ago after 1-2 months of what you describe. (I remember those days and I can’t help but sympathize, especially with the mad dash.) Meds (asacol and others like it) and enemas (ugh) led to a pretty long “good” stretch until Dec. 2005 when I began developing arthritis-like symptoms. It got worse and worse - half days of work then not going to work, doctors not knowing, tests for lyme disease, etc. It ended one Saturday in Feb. 2006 with me unable to get out of the easychair followed by an ambulance ride to the hospital. A rheumatologist there shocked me by saying it was my ulcerative colitis. Who’d have thought my colitis would lead to pseudo-arthritis? (Nobody told me!) Although prednisone proved my saving grace, all told I spent a week in the hospital, the vast majority of it bedridden (I hate bedpans). Afterwards I was only on prednisone for 6-7 months since weekly doses of methotrexate and a regiment of remicade seems to cover it.
These days I feel fine. I’m in remission and have been for quite a while (1.5 years or so?) thanks to methotrexate and remicade. I remember the pre-diagnosis and hospital days as if they were vague nightmares - things that happened to other people in other places. Sometimes my joints or limbs ache or my stomach is upset, but compared to the old days or my hospital stay.. well, there is no comparison.
Also, being a latecomer to this page, I must profess that it’s great hearing about other people’s experiences with IBD, colitis and Crohn’s. Nowadays, with remission it’s easy for me to forget about it (a luxury to be sure), but I never had an appreciation that there are other people out there with a similar condition. It’s easy to forget you’re not alone. Beyond being informative, I think that is one of the greatest gifts of your comic. Thank you.
That comic is LONG for 24 hours. How the hell did you do that? It’s also quite good.
Nice artwork!
I’m writing to you from a computer on a desk next to a bench where I do IBD research for MGH and Harvard. Reading your comic and all of the comments on it has been really inspiring. My sympathies, friend. I’m going to get back to work!
Wow,
That was great. You need to get affiliated with a hospital.
Excellent. I have had Crohns disease for years and you hit the nail right on the head. Thank you.
That is the best synopsis of Crohn’s. I was diagnosed at 13 after a year and a half of the dr.’s wondering what was wrong, with 2 more years before that with no wieght gain or growth. I was on non stop steroids and sulfa drugs for the first six years and thus leading to a major resection of my small and large intestine because the meds couldn’t keep up. I am now 36 and have never been off meds for long. I am now just on remicade since many of the other meds have messed with my bloodcounts and all. I am still not in remission but manage to get by. Do need to find a job from home though. Thanks for the comic, I can’t wait to tell my friends.
Holy Crap!… you nailed the Chrons experience in comic form. My Chrons manifestation and treatment followed much of the same path. Can’t say I miss those epic mood swings during my steroid taking days. Chrons won’t kill you, but it is a pain in the ass to live with. I now get Remicade treatments to keep my condition in remission. Your comic is brilliant. Cheers!
Awesome 24hr comic, well done, that is such an achievement!
Struck a chord with me too, I have UC and a bad episode last year led to having my colon removed. Am just recovering from my third and final op, I had a pouch reconstructed and I just started going for a poo again after 15 months with a stoma! Feels weird. Great to see someone put these issues to comic form. Joe Sacco’s excellent comics have been keeping me going through my latest recovery. Palestine. Wow. Keep up the good work Tom, and hope your Crohns improves.
Thank you…for putting down in words (and pictures) how i feel everyday…and now giving me a way to tell people about this disease..
thank u.
I totally sympathize. I had IBS through my twenties and while other people don’t think twice about going to a party, taking a car ride, going somewhere in a group, or going out to dinner, I was ALWAYS worried, looking for escape routes, and trying not to eat (cause that brings on the symptoms). I was so jealous of everyone else who could go about their lives normally. I couldn’t go on a date or out to dinner with people without worrying for days before about whether I was going to have an attack. For some reason the thought of people knowing my problem was my biggest fear. Thanks for sharing. You made me feel better.
Neato! I really appreciated that. Thanks for being so open and honest.
I have it too. This is fabulous and funny. Sweet and poignant. Thanks for putting my thoughts into words.
Excellent comic. You nailed the life of a person with awful bowel diseases. I had UC and finally had to have surgery. I had the fun experience of being allergic to the drugs that help most people. I spent nights with fluids shooting out of both ends of me. Nothing says embarassment like crapping yourself on a date. Thanks for the comic.
I’ve forwarded this to Professeur Jacques Cosnes, Hopital Rothschild, Paris - a foremost expert on Crohns Disease. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. à bientôt, Malkie, Paris.
I related to this comic so much, now I have to poop!
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 13 (nearly 13 years ago). High school was the hardest… being 90 lbs with a puffy face and always having to run to the bathroom was not good for the ol’ self confidence.
I had a bowel resection almost two years ago after suffering with fistulas, being laid up in bed for a year, and spending two months in the hospital. I’ve been in remission since then, and hoping to stay that way.
Thanks for telling your story. It was really well done and touching, and a great way to spread awareness about what so many people have to go through.
What a relief to read this comic! It’s an awesome accomplishment. I wish I’d read it fifteen years ago, that would have helped me to understand faster. The rhythm in the story and drawings are super. Very sincere, honest and utterly true in a concise way, you really caught it in depth. Many thanks for creating this and letting others read it.
[…] 24 hour comic (everything you never wanted to know about crohns disease) (tags: comics health) […]
What an excellent job! My son sent me the link to your wonderful comic. I am 60-developed an unusual form of Crohn’s in my 40’s- am finally pretty fine. You reminded me of my nutty prednisone episode which made me clean out my closets all night and then crash like a lunatic…and the doc told me it was because I had psychiatric problems. Anyway, I’m a therapist and a big part of my work is helping patients who have chronic or fatal illnesses. I plan to recommend your comic.
I got through a lot of it by writing dark funny pieces called “Right Lower Quadrant”. I’d be happy to share them with you if you are interested and send me your address.
Take good care of yourself. You are a wonderful artist and have done a lot for Crohn’s sufferers and others.
I have a friend at work who has Crohn’s and I knew that it was life altering and serious, but I was never able to have a deep conversation with him to explain what he was going through - thanks so much for giving me some insight into his issues in a straightforward and personal way, and explaining in easy terms what must be a very painful and socially altering disease.
I found this witty, whimsical, and silly. Naturally, I loved it. You put it into words that I was unable to. I think this piece is BRILIANT, and I’m sorry, but I’m recommending it to all my friends who know I have it as well.
Thank you for your hard work.
Pardon the pun,
Gotta Go
As a comic artist with Crohns disease I just found this absolutely fantastic. I also participated in 24hour Comic day for the second year now but didn’t manage to finish this time. What a wonderfully clever way to tackle the challenge!
Next time someone asks me to try to explain Crohn’s I’ll probably point them over here. Thank you!
I had a Buddy while I was in the service develop Crohn’s. It was a very stressful time for him and the rest of his buddies until they figured out what was causing his problems. Your comic was an excellent way to explain the problems of this disease. Good Luck
Chuck
Congrats on an amazing 24-hour comic, and bringing to light the plight of anyone suffering with Crohns disease or other IB symptoms. Please consider turning this into a book so more can find it at http://www.Amazon.com
Thank you for making this wonderful comic. I have IBS, and despite being in near-remission since giving up cow’s milk products, still suffer from the lingering agoraphobia. Someone up a ways commented about how saying “stomachache” results in people underestimating your pain; being an American and prone to hyperbole, I liked to use such phrases as “The Hand of DOOM is squeezing my guts” and “assplosion” to drive home the seriousness of what I was going through.
I hope perhaps you can find some social life on the internet to compensate for the lack of it in the physical world. I’ve found it helps me quite a lot. Plus there are support groups for just about every disease under the sun online. Don’t be afraid to live your life, even if you have to live it on your terms.
Thanks for doing this and congrats on such a great comic. I suffer from IBS and go through a very similar hell as you. It IS embarrassing, especially when my stomach randomly swells up to a size which makes me look like I’m expecting. Imagine wearing clothing or the sorts of comments I might get on a regular basis. Gah. In any event, it’s good to know that I’m not alone, and I really wish that the doctors would get a clue and soon about how to cure such stuff versus asking me my sexual orientation and whether or not I had a sexually traumatizing experience as a child (gosh I love doctors–not).
Andrea, and everyone else. I’ve had Crohns Disease for the past 10 years. While its not fun to live with, there is hope. There are special diets you can go on, that make it so you don’t have to run off to the restroom every 15 minutes, and swell up like that.
It doesn’t cure the disease, there is no cure for Crohns, and probably never will be, because little is understood about the immune system. The best thing we can do is just learn to live with it, as I have.
think about it this way, it could be worse. I was born with Rubella, and have aleays been legally blind, but I also reciently came down with Glaucoma on top of that, which is taking the remainder of my vision little by little. Glaucoma is basically inflammation of the eyes, which they suspect is from the crohns, so as I said, it could be worse :) ehe
Best advice I can give. be tall, stand up for who you are. Never be embarrassed about having crohns. Its an illness we can’t do nothing about, thats all you have to tell people and they understand that. never be ashamed of who you are, and bathroom stories are always funny to talk about with family anyways :)
Tom! First, CONGRATULATIONS on the completion of this magnum opus. Cheers, to you for hammering through and getting it done ON TIME and in so fabulous a manner!! ( Drum rolls and sounding trumpets).
Secondly (but none-the-less importantly) Thank you so much for the effort and honesty you have put into this work of art. I am the wife of one with Crohns and the mother of two with same, and have watched them all struggle through Everything you have put down SO WELL! I will be “advertising” your work to everyone I know, and I hope that it will become standard reading for whole populations of people who have no idea how pervasively difficult it is to deal, every day, with a problem which no one wants to know about. Maybe then we can “get real” with the whole thing and give it as much acceptance and attention as other “nicer” diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
That will be a good day, won’t it?
That was a really cool and creative thing to do. Thank you - Its rare enough you find something on the good ol’ random net that makes you think this kind of sharing of *real* information wasnt’t possible 15 years ago.
More! More! :)
Hi Tom,
Thanks for making me laugh. Does your bathroom have an easel? : )
Listen, I’m not sure you’re familiar with it, but one treatment option for autoimmune diseases– one which I’ve used with good success– is antibiotic-based and called the Marshall Protocol. There are currently patients on it with Crohn’s, and they’re doing really well. I believe in it enough to have started a website, Bacteriality.com (see link) where I interview patients, doctors, and researchers about it.
One thing about being ill is you’re never short of people telling you how to beat it, but I figured I’d take the risk of annoying you and say you might want to check this treatment out.
Amy
Thank you for writing about something so intensely personal. My amazing eleven year-old nephew Taylor was just diagnosed with Crohn’s weeks ago. He is still very much in a dangerous spot with his illness. We are waiting to see if the med’s will take hold and prevent him from needing surgery.
I am weighing whether or not to show this to him now, or wait til we get through this rough patch and things hopefully aren’t quite as scary for him. He has had his school schedule severely reduced and has limitations that seem so cruel in one so young. He is adjusting, and now takes his huge pills with an ease that is reassuring and horrifying at the same time. The pain he has gone through far surpasses what I could bear, so I truly feel for you.
I can’t tell you how much it means to us that you have written this, and it’s in a way he will be able to understand AND relate. Thanks again for your bravery, and congrats on doing such an amazing job, in such a short period of time!
Beautiful artwork, great story. I wish I could have come up with something like this to illustrate the horrible daily grind of of an IBD. I was hospitalized early this year with a bad UC flareup, and it was the first time I realized how serious these conditions can become– I especially appreciate the panel about pretending to listen to friends who have no idea what you’re experiencing.
Hi Tom,
Thank you for this incredible work. I am the President and Founder of the IBD Support Foundation (and also a Crohn’s disease patient). The IBD Support Foundation is a non-profit healthcare foundation established to provide psychosocial services for IBD patients (kids and adults). We are based in Los Angeles, although we have many programs that are international (via internet). I hope this can be a resource to your readers. Wishing you good health,
Marci
I have ALWAYS been a firm believer in using humor mixed with reality to get a point across and deal with “issues”. I’ve been a Type I diabetic (also an autoimmune disease) for 35+ years (diagnosed at age 7) and a Crohn’s/Colitis (the doc isn’t sure which) for 2 years and loved this comic. thanks for creating it and sharing!
Jenny
Tom-
Nice job telling your Crohn’s story, great graphic style too. Nice to read a story I can relate to. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2000 and have been through a similar journey as yourself.
~wayne
Thank you. I no longer have to explain my condition, my idiosyncrasies or my daily struggles - I’ll just forward on your comic to those who want a better explanation of what it is to have UC/Chrons.
Found you via BoingBoing and just wanted to drop a quick note. I have Crohn’s and have been on Remicade for six years. It works for me but there are risks.
Thanks for sharing your work. I’ll be linking this.
Tom,
Amazing work. A window into the isolated world. The aestheitc fits the mental state. Kind of wrote itself I imagine. We all with the CD know all of this very well. My personal experience includes many hospital stints and two surgeries. Found a great doctor in Los Angeles http://www.drgruenn.com/index.asp?page=gruennHome
who tested me alergic for dairy, wheat, many things and crafted a diet that has kept me drug and symptom free for 8 years! Good luck and thank you. I now can show my loved ones how it is.
As a sufferer of Eosinophilic Esophagitis/Gastroenteritis/colonitis, I can relate. Good on you for this!
Ian
My wife also has Crohn’s disease — shes been taking a strong regimen of Humira (2 vials/weekly) after becoming allergic to Remicade. The specialist took her off of Imuran a few months ago and she’s doing well still. It’s a relief for her to be off of Imuran, at least.
The toughest part right now for her is joint related pain — the wear and tear of constant inflammation in her gut has caused severe secondary effects through her joints. It’s a challenge working through managing pain without becoming addicted to painkillers or being in constant pain. If someone reading this is in this situation, be sure to get expert help at a reputable pain clinic rather than trusting your doctors — lots of them fear using drugs because of US law and many don’t have the training to do much else than that in response to pain.
Tom! Brilliant! I’m rather envious of your comic…I dropped out of art school and ended up a radio DJ, but still yearn to be an illustrator! Love your art.
I didn’t get a diagnosis until I was 19 (back in 1991)…it’s funny how parallel people’s lives can be. My intestine finally blew out while I was working a super stressful job. Now 3 years later and minus 2 1/2 feet of intestine, things have been great. Knock on wood…
St. Louis has a pretty great gastrointestinal facility at Washington University. I had gone to the Mayo clinic and was referred here. Still on Pentasa, but that’s it. If you are interested in more info, feel free to email me.
And for God’s sake keep up the artwork! Cheers!
Hi Tom
Thanks for this very well done reminder of a very bad period in my life. However, I have not had any symptoms in 8 years. Was diagnosed in the early 90s as middle to severe Croh’s, and planned my life from toilet to toilet. I was so lucky to find a book by Eleine Gottschall, Food and the Gut reaction, lilely after seeing a PBS program with her in it. She had a kid with Crohn’s and started studying biochemistry to find out what it was, what caused it and what to do about it. Through that she developed a diet that is brutal in the beginning (cooked carrots, cooked carrots and more of those). But, after even a week I saw improvement. Followed it rigorously, and found out that I could sin occasionally without effects and eating already far more tasty stuff by that time, but still according to the diet. Now I can eat what I want, and where, and have not had any symptoms in years. One little shrimp used to be back at the other end within minutes, now I can eat a plate. I had Pentasa in the beginning, thank heavens no prednison, but that was only a few months and no medication since that. Have less the runs than my healthy wife! I know one woman who had Crohn’s far worse than I and she followed that diet and is free of symptoms. And there are many others like her. One thing I do still religiously is eating home-made yoghurt every morning. Every time something useful is found out about Crohn’s, Gottschall is proven right, and the medics do not want to accept her ideas even for testing, no, they have to find something against the side-effects of the medication. The book with the diet is about $15 and has some delicious recipes in it, and there is also a website from which to get it. If you want to know more, do not hesitate to contact me. I have no financial connection to her, just extremely deep gratitude, she gave me back my life. She passed away two years ago.
You do not need to suffer this, fight it! And publish this cartoon, it will help other talk about it, and that is the first step.
Hans
Educational and touching. Thank you.
Very nice facial expressions! I’m a muso with Crohn’s and had a good laugh at the truth that only poeple with Crohn’s can fully appreciate. Its a nightmare at times (like the awkward attack while on a date) but it aint too bad because it gives you enough depth and drive and inspiration to fuel dreams worth living for. Keep up the comics passion!
wow i loved this. very informative as well as funny.
I have a friend with Chron’s too, I’m sure this will make their day when I show them!!! thank you!!!!!!
[…] I’ve kept an eye on the blogs, and a lot of folks are posting and talking about their own 24 Hour Comics Day output, and there’s plenty of folks talking about others’ 24HCD works. But there’s one comic that has gotten far and away the most blog attention… Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Crohns Disease. […]
Missed you at the Comic Fair on Sunday. Your comic is brilliant, beautifully drawn and poignant and wry.
Hope you’re OK and see you at the next event maybe.
hi Tom,
I really like the style of your drawings. They are very expressive. Also, the dialogue flows well throughout and gets the ideas and feelings across without being too wordy. I had to laugh when I read the very last frame…how accurate! Being able to laugh about it does make it a little easier to deal with.
I was diagnosed with Crohns back in July and can totally relate to your experience. I’m in the process of tapering off the Prednisone right now. (FINALLY!) I ‘ve had some of the extra energy you talked about but for the most part I’ve been riding the ‘Roid Roller Coaster of Moodiness. To quote a guy that I talked to about it recently…Prednisone is PMS in a bottle! I am noticing the distinct lack of energy going off the steroids however. I feel worse now that I’m getting better. Just great! *sigh* I have my fingers crossed that Remicade will keep me in remission for a while. Ok, I’ll stop complaining now…
Thanks for sharing you story and talent. If there is going to be a cure it is essential that there be more awareness of the disease in general. Your comic is sure to help. Maybe the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation would want to publish it — either as one of their regular publications or as a fundraiser?! Just a thought. All the best to you and everyone else out there in the same boat.
Take care and keep up the great work. :)
Wonderful, I look forward to reading another, I was misdiagnosed as having irratable bowel disease for about 23 years only when I collasped and got rushed into hospital did they discover it was crohns. Sadly not responsding to meds very well and the disease is spread throughout my whole digestive system but raising awareness of this illness may prevent others suffering for years and being thought of as a hypocondriac. So as humour is a excellent medium to raise awareness of this illness, I think you have done an excellent job.
I have been through all that too bar the steroids. I have Ulcerative Colitis, which, although not as bad as Crohns, is still bad enough to need the toilet 30 times a day when it’s active.
My heart goes out to you and I understand your pain.
K
My friend in high school had Crohn’s disease. He missed over half of 8th grade with it, and always drank “Silk” instead of milk. He got the puffy face too, for awhile, but seems to be doing better lately.
really good to read. my boyfriend has chrons disease and its really hard to understand why he is the way he is at times. Thanks for that.