I Have Crohn's Disease
Not me but my late father.
As a boy, my father had "delicate" health. After his freshman year in college, he checked into the Mayo Clinic, which removed about a meter of his small intestine. Recovering from major abdominal surgery made him miss a year of school. A few years later, he flunked a job physical. He then went to a GI specialist, who told him he needed another operation to fix something that did not heal right after his Mayo Clinic operation. Once again he spent an entire year in recovery. But that year was 1943. So when millions of men of his generation were serving in the Armed Forces to defeat Hitler and Tojo, my father was living in his mother's house, too ashamed to be seen in public. My father got better, and met and married my mother. After having 3 children, a flareup put him in the hospital for 10 days. This time steroids were available, and they gave a lot of quick relief. 15 years later, my father was operated for an anal fistula. 3 years after that, he slid into a major crisis, and had more than a meter of small intestine removed. This time a biopsy was sent to Sloan-Kettering, which diagnosed Crohn's. Thus my father was nearly 60 when his lifelong history of abdominal cramping, explosive diarrea, and food sensitivities was finally explained. It is evident to me that Crohn's darkened my father's entire life. It kept him out of WWII and Korea. He shied away from jobs where applicants had to go through a serious physical (this was common 1940-70). It made my father feel insecure as a probably failure in life. My mother loved him regardless, but I wonder how much he truly appreciated that. I consider myself very fortunate that my abdominal difficulties are limited to lactose intolerance. My father was not diagnosed as lactose intolerant until he was nearly 40. We never sorted out the possible connection between Crohn's and his lactose intolerance.
As a boy, my father had "delicate" health. After his freshman year in college, he checked into the Mayo Clinic, which removed about a meter of his small intestine. Recovering from major abdominal surgery made him miss a year of school. A few years later, he flunked a job physical. He then went to a GI specialist, who told him he needed another operation to fix something that did not heal right after his Mayo Clinic operation. Once again he spent an entire year in recovery. But that year was 1943. So when millions of men of his generation were serving in the Armed Forces to defeat Hitler and Tojo, my father was living in his mother's house, too ashamed to be seen in public. My father got better, and met and married my mother. After having 3 children, a flareup put him in the hospital for 10 days. This time steroids were available, and they gave a lot of quick relief. 15 years later, my father was operated for an anal fistula. 3 years after that, he slid into a major crisis, and had more than a meter of small intestine removed. This time a biopsy was sent to Sloan-Kettering, which diagnosed Crohn's. Thus my father was nearly 60 when his lifelong history of abdominal cramping, explosive diarrea, and food sensitivities was finally explained. It is evident to me that Crohn's darkened my father's entire life. It kept him out of WWII and Korea. He shied away from jobs where applicants had to go through a serious physical (this was common 1940-70). It made my father feel insecure as a probably failure in life. My mother loved him regardless, but I wonder how much he truly appreciated that. I consider myself very fortunate that my abdominal difficulties are limited to lactose intolerance. My father was not diagnosed as lactose intolerant until he was nearly 40. We never sorted out the possible connection between Crohn's and his lactose intolerance.
70-79, M