There has been a lot going on in my world. I am in the process of moving in with my boyfriend and while it is definitely a change, I think it is going to be a really positive thing for me. More on that later.

I have talked before about how it is difficult for me to engross myself in the IBD community sometimes. The last month or so has definitely made me feel that way. About a week after my best friend needed emergency surgery, my boyfriend’s son was admitted to the hospital. He is 9years old and has Crohns disease. Luckily, the issue wasn’t IBD related but it was still an unpredictable hospital admission. After I got the message that they were going to have to stay overnight, I felt like I was going to pass out in the middle of the store and I couldn’t stop crying for days.

I immediately messaged my friend who runs The Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis Diaries: Living with IBD with me and let her know I needed to spend the rest of the weekend away from anything IBD.

This whole situation reminded me of this post I wrote here about how I was never able to deal with the emotional aspect of ulcerative colitis while I was dealing with so much physically.

I have ENORMOUS amount of respect for those of you advocating while you are still in crisis mode. I am very fortunate to have about a year and a half of sustained health under my belt and it is because of that that I am able to talk so much about my experience with inflammatory bowel disease. When I think about all of those times I was at my worst, there was no way I could talk about what was going on with me physically. I couldn’t internalize it until I was either home or things had resolved themselves a little bit. Processing what was happening to my life, my body and in my world was too much to handle.

I have so many inspiring friends in the IBD community who continue to advocate tirelessly while they are undergoing a tremendous amount of physical trauma. Even though the events of this past month didn’t directly affect me physically, it was a reality check. I really admire those of you who fall in that category. I hope you know how incredibly strong you are and how much respect we all have for you!