About My Health

As some of you may or may not know (or have been surprised to hear), I have fell ill recently. I write this blog post today to explain exactly what happened so that people can know what happened to me this past term. In addition, I hate having to repeat what happened when asked.

The whole incident occured on October 8th in the morning as I was beginning to complete my CS350 assignment at the last minute. At first I felt cramps occasionally and passed it off as just being a little gas. Eventually as morning came the cramps got worse, to the point where every 15 minutes I would need to lie down on a couch to relax for a little. After I submitted the assignment I lay on the couch for a little over an hour until Daniel Hobol suggested I go outside for fresh air. Unfortunately upon doing so I began to vomit violently. Sensing trouble, Daniel brought me to Health Services and from there I was taken to the hospital.

At Grand River Hospital they performed several scans and determined that my appendix was perforated, meaning that I had to get my appendix removed. The operation occured around 5 PM the following day (Oct 9). Afterwards the appendix was biopsied and they discovered that I have Chron's disease. A couple of days later I seemed fine and was released from Grand River Hospital.

Upon being released, I decided to stay with my parents to recover from the surgery. I thought that the worst of it was over, but I was dead wrong. It was only the beggining. The Thursday I was back home Grand River called to mention that they kind of messed up and I got MRSA - it's basically a minor bacteria that will go away but it is annoying because it weakens your immune system - it also means that I can only stay in private rooms when I am in the hospital (i.e. free private room for me in the future). Fair enough, mistakes happen in the hospital. However the following Sunday as I was about to return to Waterloo to continue my studies I began vomiting again.

This time I was taken to my local hospital, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, where they discovered that there was a hole in my colon, part of my bowel needed to be removed and there was some abcesses and infections that needed to be cleaned, at least that is what my parents told me. The operation went well although I wasn't concious at the time. Unfortunately, this is still not the end of the story as I ended up having breathing difficulties and had to be airlifted to Victoria Hospital in London. Essentially I was being fed air through a breathing tube for a couple of days. What was weird about the whole experience is that I remember being in the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, going to sleep and waking up at Victoria Hospital. It is weird to go to sleep one place and wake up some 100+ kms away from where you slept.

Long story short after recovering mostly in the hospital for about two weeks I ended up going back home to Chatham, as I sit here right now feeling fully recovered but having to eat a new diet. For those who have Chron's disease - I feel your pain as Bill Clinton would say. Having Chron's disease means changing alot of things in your life - your diet, excercise, how you manage stress, as well as being on medications that are aggresive in some cases.