0:00

Hey , tim here , and as most of you know

0:03

, I live with Crohn's disease

0:05

. I had a scope recently

0:08

and the results show

0:10

that there is mild inflammation

0:12

in my guts , not

0:14

just in one spot but in multiple spots

0:17

, and while it can

0:19

be frustrating and it is a little frustrating

0:21

, I'm choosing to see this as

0:24

being hopeful . It

0:27

is a little frustrating , I'm choosing to see this as being hopeful . If somebody asked me if

0:29

I'm frustrated and I'm not going to let myself go there

0:31

, I know that there's still no

0:33

cure for Crohn's disease yet . I'm

0:35

hopeful that changing up a few things in

0:37

my lifestyle and continuing on the medication

0:40

that you know it will take effect

0:42

and we'll see where it goes from there , that

0:44

it will take effect and we'll see where it goes

0:46

from there . And , as a friend said to me , at

0:54

least it's not severe . So I'm kind of leaning into

0:56

that right now . It's not severe . When I was in the peak of my flare , I was prescribed

0:58

extremely high dose of steroid

1:01

, which just was a

1:04

disaster on my life . The only good

1:06

thing out of being on steroids was

1:08

developing

1:11

a recipe that I now call manic muffins

1:13

, and I still need to put it up on the website . I

1:16

would wake up at two or three in the morning and just

1:18

bake to the point where my kids and

1:20

my wife said , please , no more baking . But

1:24

I'm not there , and

1:26

so that's why I'm leaning into

1:28

hope Now

1:30

. I wanted to share a little bit about how I even got

1:32

to have a scope , because it

1:35

took a bit of advocating for myself

1:37

. A few weeks

1:39

ago , I called up my doctor after

1:41

experiencing a massive

1:43

bleed , and so

1:45

I said , hey , this is what's going on , and he

1:48

said well , it could be a number of things . And I said but

1:50

it could also be Crohn's , we don't

1:52

know that . I also

1:54

explained to him that I have

1:56

no energy . I'm not

1:59

just tired , I am beyond

2:01

fatigued . I am beyond fatigued to the point

2:03

where I need naps

2:05

in the afternoon just to get through

2:07

the day . So I

2:10

asked him like , what do we do ? What

2:14

are the options here ? And we came to the conclusion

2:16

that I

2:19

need an iron infusion , and

2:22

I even asked for that . I said , hey , what's it going to take for me to get an iron

2:24

infusion ? And he pulled up my blood work and said well

2:26

, actually you're lower than

2:28

the acceptable level , so let's get you in for that

2:31

. And thankful

2:33

for our cancellation at the hospital because they

2:35

got me in very , very quickly for that . But

2:38

I also advocated for getting a scope

2:40

done . My last scope

2:42

was about eight months ago and so I

2:45

understand they try not to do them super

2:48

often and I could see why it's

2:50

not fun . It's not like

2:52

going to a carnival or

2:54

anything like that , drinking that nasty

2:57

cleansing

2:59

liquid just

3:01

for a camera to go up the backside

3:03

. It's not fun . But

3:05

I wanted

3:08

that scope , I wanted to

3:10

know what was going on . So I

3:12

asked , hey , what would it look like if we did

3:14

a scope ? And he

3:16

said , yeah , let's get one in there , let's

3:18

get one done . And so

3:21

we did . And the clinic I use

3:25

, where my doctor is , they have

3:27

just a phenomenal service and a holistic

3:29

approach to medicine . They even

3:31

have a scope clinic right inside where his

3:33

office is or not in the office

3:36

, but close to it . So I got in fairly quick

3:38

and that's when I got

3:40

the results , when

3:47

I got the results . The point of this is , you know , I want to share that you know , while

3:49

I live with chronic illness and some pain

3:51

with arthritis and

3:54

Crohn's disease , I've

3:57

chosen to live in this place

3:59

of hope and gratitude rather

4:02

than a place of what if , and

4:04

while it can be frustrating

4:07

, I know , for me , for

4:09

my mental health , I

4:11

just can't go there , I can't allow

4:13

myself to live there . And

4:17

so with that I just want to share that a little bit

4:19

. And so don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion

4:21

If your doctor isn't supporting

4:25

what you're looking for . Go

4:27

get that second opinion . So I'm

4:30

hopeful and I hope this message encourages you

4:32

as well . Have a good one .