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Signs You Might Be a Crohn's Disease Warrior

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If your medical file has ever been mistaken for the Los Angeles area phone book, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever texted or called your gastroenterologist on his personal phone on a weekend or holiday, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever sat through school/work/a meeting/church/a date while experiencing pain that ranks eight or above out of 10 on a pain scale, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever been given the stink-eye for being late for church, work, your child’s school, a doctor appointment or a meeting (because you were, once again, in the bathroom), you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever coached another person through the colonoscopy prep and procedure because you’re a pro at it, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you arrive at a new place and immediately have to scope out all bathrooms and mentally time the walking/running distance, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you have wicked abdominal scars – and call them war wounds – you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever shared about your bowel movements in great detail in a Facebook group, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever crawled through your house to the couch/your bed/the bathroom because you’re in so much pain, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever been angry, frustrated and in tears because you have this stupid disease but you pick yourself up and do your best to keep moving anyhow, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever had to insist that something really is wrong because the doctors/nurses/ER staff aren’t taking you seriously, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever been told “it’s just stress” (before you were diagnosed), you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you’ve ever been told “it’s food poisoning” when it’s later discovered it was a life-threatening obstruction, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you have a regular wardrobe and a “when on Prednisone” wardrobe, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you feel like the only person who can really understand what you go through on a daily basis is another Crohn’s warrior, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you worry your children might develop this disease someday and pray they don’t, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you carry Poo-Pourri in your purse, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

If you battle every day to keep yourself going, encourage others like you, advocate for others and pray for a cure, you might be a Crohn’s warrior.

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Originally published: March 8, 2017
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