Making the invisible visible

Weekends are often seen as a time to relax, hang out or get caught up on homework.

However, this weekend has a lot happening, especially on May 19.

For culture-buffs, there’s the royal wedding to watch, National Asian and Pacific Islander Day or Culture Freedom Day.

For patriots, there’s Armed Forces Day or Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day.

And for the health-aware, there’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and National Hepatitis Testing Day.

In the same token, there’s World IBD Day, a day with special meaning to me.

On Feb. 2, 2012, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a disease under the umbrella term Inflammatory Bowel Disease that also includes Crohn’s disease.

Colitis and Crohn’s are autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune is a term that means your body’s immune system attacks itself. In IBD’s case, the attack happens along the digestive track.

Colitis is something I haven’t always been comfortable talking about. However, I’m beginning to be more and more open in the hopes of helping and educating others. Because the thing about colitis is, it’s an invisible illness. If I don’t talk about it, it doesn’t show.

While on the outside I may look like anyone else, inside, my body is waging a war.

Symptoms and experiences are unique to everyone.  

For me, it can be intense fatigue, running to the restroom dozens of times, dozens of pills with even more side effects, joint pain and stomach aches that feel like I’m being punched.

Beyond this, there’s isolation. Spending weekends in bed recuperating instead of having fun. Being stuck between wanting to take on opportunities and it not working out with my symptoms. Seeing more of doctors than my friends. There’s also struggling to get through school work and feeling like having no control over my schedule.

Having an autoimmune disease often requires taking medicines that reduce the function of your immune system and put you at risk for more illnesses.

Throughout high school and now college, I’ve had to miss weeks of school at a time.

Then there’s always the questions of where have I been. It’s emotional, because like I said in my last column, life is more than numbers and labels; but I often feel stuck with the label of sick.

Colitis is a chronic disease with no cure, so it will always be a part of me.

So this weekend, amid all the usual routine of the weekend, I ask that you look into IBD and how it impacts millions around the globe. Unveil part of the curtain that makes this disease hidden. You can find the World IBD website at this address https://worldibdday.org/about-us and the United States site here: http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org.

Sophie Feinberg is a UF journalism junior. Her column comes out on Tuesdays and Thursdays.