My name is Melissa. I am 23 years old. I am happily married to Paul for 2 years now. We have known eachother since we'd been little children but had started dating in 1999.
I love to sing. I'm either singing out loud or singing in my head. I hope that someday I will have the courage to do something with that. I would have a very sad life if I could'nt find some way to bring singing into my normal daily life.
I don't have very much to write now, as I am very busy in my every day life. One day, I hope to come back on this page and make a lot of updates, including much more recent pictures.
On a serious note: Most people don't know this about me. When I was 13, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. There is no cure and no definate treatment for this. It has many embarassing symptoms. Technically, it is inflamation in the lining of the colon. My colon was inflamed and full of ulcers. It looks like third degree burns on the inside. My colon was too diseased to live with. I was anemic, dehydrated all the time. I was afraid to eat anything because I was always in pain. I lost so much weight. It was very dangerous. I basically lived in bed for a few months without much movement, except to go to the washroom. I tried various medications to no avail. Finally, in October 1997, I had my first surgery, where I was given a temporary illeostomy (bag on your stomach that you defecate in). Then, in March 1998, I had it reversed and now I'm pretty much like all you normal folk.
I posted this on a website:
I am happy I had UC
Very many times, I have only concentrated on the bad things about having UC so young. I have now found a few reasons why it was a good thing it happened:
1. I appreciate life and the people in it a lot more than before.
2. I have more compassion for others.
3. I have become independent and learned to ask questions. It has helped me break out of my shell.
4. It has lead me away from a path of destruction and back on the right path in life.
5. It has educated me enough about other similar diseases and when I met Paul, I knew enough to convince him to have a colonoscopy, since his father died 5 years ago of colon cancer due to FAP.
6. My aunt had an easier diagnosis for her Crohn's disease because her symptoms were similar to mine and she was able to let her doctor know.
7. It has brought my family closer. We are a very close-knit family.
8. It has made me appreciate my parents more at such a young age where teenagers usually hate their parents.
9. I found out who my true friends were.
10. I learned that beauty IS, in fact, skin deep.
11. I met nice people that truly touched my heart in the hospital.
12. I have learned how to entertain myself without television and learned to enjoy reading much more than before.
13. It made me more ambitious and I finished school despite being homeschooled for two years and having to push twice as hard as the other students in my classes. I still remained at the higher end of most of my classes.
14. I learned not to take life for granted. We cannot expect those close to us to be around forever.
15. I have more determination and more endurance.
16. I wrote my best poetry while I was sick and on many medications.
17. I don't stress too much about being too fat because I know what it's like to be too skinny.
18. I see the good in everyone, even when most people can't.
19. I can put myself in someone else's shoes. I realized how hard it was to be me but I also knew it must have been hard to be my parents and sibling during my time of suffering. I can easily empathize with others.
