Let’s welcome this week’s warrior, Tricia!
My name is Tricia Devine, but everyone calls me Trish. I live in a very small town in upstate NY called Pine Plains. We moved here nine years ago from just outside New York City and we love it. I am married with three kids, a 9 yr. old girl and 6 yr. old twin boys. We own our own small business and love being a party of the community here. The vibe is definitely country and it’s wonderful. We just got backyard chickens and I cannot wait for fresh eggs that aren’t fed GMO grain. I have an Instagram where I show the different foods I make called Colon_Chick. I am not nearly talented enough to do my own recipes, but I love to showcase some of my favorite food bloggers such as Comfy Belly, Every Last Bite, Danielle Walker, A Life of Happenstance, Nom Nom Paleo, and yourself, The Chef with IBD.
I have Ulcerative Colitis. I was diagnosed 12 years ago this August when I was 33 years old and in the middle of x-ray school. Maybe it was the stress from this, or the countless vaccines I needed to get for school that triggered it, or the fact that I was no longer a smoker, who knows, but I started having symptoms. My symptoms were blood in my stool and going to the bathroom more frequently. I went to my primary care physician first where he said I probably had a fissure or IBS. I believe he told me to start taking probiotics and that was that. When my symptoms weren’t improving, he sent me to a GI who did a scope and announced I had Ulcerative Colitis. I do remember the first thing I asked him when he came in the room after my procedure was do I have cancer because of course if you google blood in your stool, you just assume the worst. Thankfully that first flare was cleared up pretty quickly with mesalamine but it would never be that easy again. Since then, I’ve had some pretty horrible flares, but I have never been hospitalized, so I am thankful for that. I’ve been on countless rounds of prednisone, 6MP, Imuran, enemas, suppositories, Xeljanz, Humira…I tried to avoid biologics for so long, but I’ve accepted the fact that sometimes we need the drugs and that is okay! Having to go on a heavy-duty drug like a biologic can sometimes make you feel defeated, but sometimes they are needed. Initially I was able to avoid some drugs by doing SCD. SCD was a lifesaver for me in 2016 when I was having a horrible flare after giving birth to twins. That was one of the hardest flares ever, trying to nurse two five-month-olds and take care of a 3 yr. old. My GI suggested Humira then and I said I wanted to try this diet first. Of course, he never heard of it, but he was supportive. It worked so well! It got me out of a horrible flare within two weeks. It worked for a while but eventually I did need to incorporate biologics as well. I do credit SCD though for giving me the tools to really watch what sort of foods I put in my body AND the fact that food does make a difference, even though most doctors will tell you it does not. Even Elaine says in the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle that UC can be tricky, I guess that is why people with UC need diet changes and drugs. I find nowadays doing a modified SCD and biologics helps me to stay healthy.
Since having UC I am forever grateful for my health. Every day I am not flaring is a huge blessing and I will never take that for granted. When I am feeling good UC doesn’t affect my life all that greatly, except for managing my meds and I of course am strict about my diet, or try to be. I never eat gluten and try to limit dairy, sugar, etc. Sometimes that can make going over someone’s house or out to eat tricky, but I am never opposed to just bringing my own food. Having an autoimmune disease can be weird in that you seem perfectly fine to people on the outside but on the inside your body is screaming and you are miserable. People don’t always get that. Or someone may say how you’ve lost weight and you look great, meanwhile it’s because you can’t keep any food in your body. It’s certainly a wave of emotions. Thankfully I have a very supportive family. It’s tough if I am flaring and having to do all the Mom things, school drop offs/picks ups, etc. Birthday parties, sports. I’ve been the mom on the sidelines wearing a diaper. You have to do what you have to do.
My journey has taught me that I can do hard things. I nursed my twins all during a flare when my body felt like it was basically breaking down, but I did it, and I made it through. It has taught me to truly be grateful for my health every single day, for the little things, for it all. It has taught me that what we eat truly matters and how disgusting most things in the American diet are. I want people who are recently diagnosed, or who are struggling with a flare, to know that it will not always be like this. You will get better; you will be yourself again. It’s so hard when flaring to not get totally depressed and long for your old life. It may take a while, but you will get there. And it’s okay to take the drugs – that doesn’t make you any less of a warrior!
For fun I really enjoy reading, making a good meal, drinking iced coffee while reading :-), and hanging out with my wonderful family. They are my everything and I would never be able to do this journey without them. My husband has been here the whole time with my UC journey and I can’t thank him enough.
Thank you so much for sharing your IBD journey with us Tricia! Be sure to give her a follow on IG @Colon_Chick