This is what a year with severe ulcerative colitis looks like:
July - Sept: Severe flare, totally bedridden
Oct: Getting better
Nov: Moderate flare, housebound
Dec - Feb: Symptomatic but able to leave house
March - May: Severe flare, bedridden
May - Dec: Mild flares, able to leave the house but mostly housebound
This is a debilitating and disabling disease. My quality of life has been poor since diagnosis. It can be difficult or impossible to work. I am lucky to live at home and work from home. But I am underemployed and have to work doubly hard to keep an underpaying job. I spend half of what I make on treatments. I miss important milestones in my friends' lives. People assume I'm antisocial. Maybe I am? It's hard to know where this disease ends and my personality begins.
On a positive note, I am excited I finally have health insurance (thank you Obama!).