Overcoming a physical illness can be difficult while facing the daily challenges of high school. All the pressures to find who we are and to perform well academically are the least of our problems during the school year.

Ulcerative colitis is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that causes the digestive tract to become inflamed. This disease can last for years or be lifelong. All of the symptoms are completely internal so most of the time people have no idea what is going on or how they’re  feeling.

Ulcerative colitis has directly affected my education, social life and my ability to perform physical activities. Life as an average teenager is hard enough. With U.C. it proves to be an even bigger challenge.

During a flare up you have a huge energy loss and simple tasks become much more difficult. Heavier homework nights are our worst nightmare. Functioning on eight hours of sleep is a struggle and it is not easy to finish two projects and an essay before eight o’clock. Also, waking up early enough to look decent, eat breakfast and get to school on time are virtually impossible. A full night’s sleep has no effect on your energy; you’re going to be tired either way.  

With the constant pressures of illness and school on your shoulders, it’s easy to feel lost and alone. This is especially true when no one really understands what’s going on and kinda brushes it off. Being sick is awful, everyone has had a cold before but with a little bit of rest and some Nyquil everything is back on track. This is definitely not as simple.

I have taken multitudinous medicines and even tried changing my diet, but it takes a lot of work to feel good. Missing school is not uncommon with a condition like this. Some days you feel like you could conquer anything and other days the thought of even doing anything is hard. Even after just one day, the amount of makeup work is insane and it’s seemingly impossible to catch  up.

Physical illnesses are not always visible. Our school is huge and there are hundreds upon hundreds of students, and you have no idea which kids are struggling daily. The most important thing is that you are not alone.