My Crohn’s Diagnosis

Well, there it is.  The last thing I practice is to not take my personal drama to social media.  And here I am talking about something rather personal and something that most people really don’t want to hear or even care about.  You see, when it comes to social media everyone has their own take on what it’s purpose is.  Someone told me one time that I was personally ruining social media by posting hateful political stuff and that social media (specifically FB) was meant for catching up with old friend and that I was abusing it.  And when people post about how much they are in love and then 2 weeks later they post that they are completely done with relationships, it just makes me quiver with the thought that I do not want to be that person.  However, I think my newly diagnosed disease of Crohn’s is a little more permanent than a relationship.  And I truly do not post this to share my drama but more so that I want to share with others how little we truly know about those we associate with and the daily struggles they face.  AND in no way am I looking for any type of concern or sympathy based on daily struggles.

So why am I writing this blog and why am I sharing my personal stuff that I so quiver at when I read others drama?  Perhaps out of the unknown, fear, trust and perhaps I want to hear from others that may be living with Crohn’s and maybe they will tell me everything will be okay.  Maybe they will tell me the truth and that life with Crohn’s is going to be miserable.  I guess I have NEVER known anyone in my lifetime who has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.  This makes it even more frustrating because I do not know anyone else who is experiencing this similar disease to share with.

That’s part of why I am writing this but the real part is that I want to create awareness in anyone who reads my blogs.  You see, up until I was diagnosed with Crohn’s, I thought I was exempt from anything and everything.  I was forever eternally young and I was the one who was going to beat life.  Or better yet, beat death.  I know that sounds smug but in all reality, I NEVER in a million years thought I would spend my last years on earth trying to fight a disease.  I wanted to just grow old healthy and die of natural causes ….. and maybe I will still grow old and die of natural causes but now in order to do that, I have to be able to fight this disease at the same time and truth be told, that’s a tall order.  You see, when you get older, things tend to really slow down and you’re tired.

I think what bothers me the most is that my apple cart has been upset.  Things are not playing out the way I wanted them to.  Ah, the first lesson in life….. Life is not fair and we do not get to set the rules.  Well that sucks.  This is not the way things were supposed to play out, well at least not in my mind.  There’s the awareness.  Just when you think you’ve been dealt an Ace, in all reality it’s only a smoke screen for the Joker that is about to come your way.  It’s the Jokers that you have to be aware of.  They are the game changers and the unexpected.  You need to know, life isn’t fair and in the end you lose.  Or do you?  For a lot of people, they do lose but for others they do not lose (metaphorically).

You see, if you plan for these types of things, you have all the right provisions in place and when life deals you those Jokers, and you have already planned for them, well, you tend to just roll with the punches.  I’m learning this partially the hard way but with some planning that I started a little over a year ago.  I am currently facilitating the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University classes and a little over a year ago I was a student.  Within the course you learn to get yourself into financial peace and for many good reasons.  One of the steps is to focus on and wipe out all of your debt (I’m almost there) which makes it much more easy for me to focus on all these medical bills I have acquired through the Crohn’s treatment.  A year ago, this would have been absolutely devastating news and one that would have had a much larger financial impact to my life.  The other thing I learned through taking and teaching the course is ensuring I have enough insurance in place to take care of those I love once I depart from this earth.  I secured that at the start of the year prior to my diagnoses which could have been a game changer for my spouse who is now retired.  It could mean the difference between her living a great life in retirement or having to go back to work for another 20 years.   The point here is that if you want to depart this world in what some would call, “in a good place” you need to plan for it.

Never in a million years would I want to leave my spouse in financial ruins.  Never would I want to force my spouse back into employment after she has already retired, Never would I want to not properly plan for my kids future college education.  The good Lord has everything planned in His timing and no way do I look at my planning prior to being diagnosed as luck but rather good strategy from God.  He made sure I started to get things lined up for something I thought I was above.  Something I thought I was going to beat.  But God had other plans and he knew what was coming and he ensured I was prepared or at least moving in the right direction.

The biggest lesson learned here and what I feel I can share with you is…. no matter what, get your life in what I call, Financial Health.  Get your debt wiped out.  Get yourself insured for those you love and then plan for the future of your kids which are your legacy.  And last but not least, as I like to give credit where credit is due, my big brother advised me with these words long ago (which I did not heed), “nobody gets out of this alive.”.

Bob~