Inspired Like You: Luc Is Laughing His Way Through The Pain

Luc, 14, has such a severe gastrointestinal disease that his doctors had to remove his colon. But his sharp sense of humor is helping him cope—and raise awareness. by Luc Hyman as told to Jane Bianchi Imagine having to down more than 40 pills every day and never eating ice cream or cake or burritos (in my opinion, the best food of all time!). And when your friends want to grab some pizza, there is nothing for you to eat. Even broccoli is off-limits. Welcome to my life! You see, in the spring of 2012, I got really sick and felt exhausted, and I spent almost a whole month in the hospital while doctors figured out what was causing my painful stomachaches, fevers, and diarrhea. I was eventually diagnosed with a condition called ulcerative colitis, which is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Basically, it means that my immune system often overreacts, causing sores along the inside of my digestive tract. Scientists aren’t sure why people get IBD, but they think it is likely a result of some combination of genes, an oversensitive immune system, and an environmental trigger that is often unknown. What made all of this harder was that I had to miss a lot of school. And when I was able to go, it was hard for my fifth-grade classmates to understand what I was going through. Since my condition isn’t like the chicken pox or a broken arm—something you can see—kids would say, “You don’t look sick.” When I’d tell them the name of my disease, they’d stare...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news