Break Time

Once school is over (tomorrow), I may have more time to dedicate towards blogging. My sense of guilt over time spent on anything but studying or money making work has prevented me from maintaining the blog I initially envisioned. You all should be thankful for my sense of duty to my school work, seeing how your life or your loved ones may be in my hands some day. I'd hope to be well educated in whatever comes at me....

ANYWAY enough of that. I bring you this important opportunity to potentially help the chronically ill...

You may or may not know this, but I have and inflammatory bowel disease called Ulcerative Colitis. Very similar to Crohn's disease. It is not fun and gave me one heck of a ride from my diagnosis in 2006 to a crazy flare up and an extremely long hospitalization with talks of surgery. Finally, after all the steroids and other drugs, we finally found one that seemed to work for me. I gradually gained strength back and didn't let any of this get in my way. Now, almost two years later since I've been home from the hospital, I have yet to have a full blown flare up and am considered in remission. Bad news is, I'm still on meds and so is the majority of everyone else with these diseases, or worse - surgeries to remove diseased portions of intestines or the entire large intestine. There is no cure. Much like many illnesses out there. No cure. And the cause? The cause is still widely debated from genetics to environmental triggers to autoimmune to a combination.

Good news is almost anyone can help with research projects. The Crohn's and Colitis Center of Mass General Hospital is currently collecting samples and data on patients with IBD. If you have IBD or know anyone who does, call 617.724.3238 to participate. Basically, you donate a blood and urine sample and fill out some questionnaires mostly on diet. For your time, you are awarded $25 or free parking (which sometimes can be over $25). You can even elect to donate that money back. Even those without the disease can participate and be part of the control group. If this study isn't for you, look into other chronic illness research projects. Many hospitals have specialty units with research departments. Again, if this isn't an illness you suffer from, almost always a control group is needed to compare results against. Show your support!


Back to the books....