It was about 21 years ago when I started having symptoms.  I was a junior in high school.  As if puberty, academics, friends, boyfriends, and college applications were not stressful enough, I had to deal with new medical symptoms that I never experienced, or remember experiencing, before.  I remember having bloody diarrhea often along with tons of cramping in my stomach.  What was going on with me?  Was I having an appendicitis?  Super bad cramps?  I remember seeing a few different doctors and being told that I needed to have a colonoscopy.  After drinking that disgusting prep and “emptying my colon” the whole night before, I went through my first colonoscopy.  My mom and I went to have a follow-up appointment with the gastroenterologist who told us, “I think you have ulcerative colitis.”  I think?  That wasn’t good enough for us, so we went to the head of Gastroenterology at University of Pennsylvania.  Although I didn’t want to go through a second colonoscopy, I did, so he could “get a good look at things.”  After this doctor confirmed the ulcerative colitis diagnosis, Mom and I were able to accept the news a little easier.  Now what????  Where do we go from here????

Tina Landis