Apr '07. SCD Attempt #2: No thank you Doc, I’m quite attached to my colon--I think I’ll keep it.

My goal at age 20 was not to find the next internship, job, or career, but to find hope. So after graduating college and recovering for a few months, I meditated, searched for my zen, and educated myself on my health. While rediscovering the shiny SCD binder that my dad made me almost 2 years prior, I devoured (no pun intended) literature on and offline about SCD.  I called up a couple SCD veterans with my questions. I asked one, “So you reached remission?” She said yes.  “So…what exactly is remission? Is it just some pain some days and you sprint to the bathroom...like...less?” She explained, “No--no pain and I go to the bathroom just like any other normal person without IBD.” I made a mental note to Google normal later. She also told me that after reaching remission, her doctor tapered her off until she was medication free and she had remained that way for several years while following SCD.

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With a sense of empowerment and fresh hope, I took another bite (don’t you just love these puns) and launched cold turkey into Day 1 of the SCD again, minus the nuts this time... on Day 100, I was still sick. Elaine Gottschall, who popularized SCD, says to try the diet for a month, before deciding if it’s for you, but I’ve heard from several people that it can take longer than that. So I deferred the grad program I was about to start and re-weighed the same options – surgery (yikes!?), immunotherapy (huh!?), chemotherapy (what!?), or the dreaded steroids (prednisone is the worst).

Well, for better or worse, I couldn’t bring myself to try any of those therapies, a couple of which had given me bad side effects in the past. My doctor had strongly advised a colectomy three years before and an appointment with the GI surgeon was set. But I flaked out. I told him, “No thank you Doc, I’m quite attached to my colon - I think I’ll keep it.” Pun intended.

Continued...