Hey Andrew.
Keep your head up. Take your health into your own hands. Know that your God does not make mistakes. Cut out that smoke and drinking if you can, please. Best of luck and well wishes.
- Gloria
Hi Andrew-
I was diagnosed with PSC at 22 just a couple months before my 23rd birthday. I was fortunate enough to quit drinking at age 21 because it was making me very sick. I was diagnosed with Auto-immune hepatitis about a year later. I believe that if this disease had not presented itself to me, I would have been an alcoholic and drug addict. I was also told I have 10 years to transplant, and they are no longer speculating that outcome for me.
I went to a conference this last year sponsored by PSC Partners. It was a very good conference, but I took one thing away from it, the disease is very different person to person. Some people are very sick and some do very well. It really gave me hope that the disease was not SO gloom and doom, and that there was hope to be LIVING with PSC. I took one more thing away from the conference: It seems as though people live with this disease a definition of who they are and it really defines them; this is not the type of attitude/focus that I believe should be embraced.
The most important thing I will say is this: I am not sure if you believe in God, but I would say that He has taught me the most through this disease. I am not a "religious" person, because I do not believe that is what God wants at all. I have found that everyone is sick in some way, whether it be physically or mentally, that is the world we are born into. I truly believe that the disease comes from a deeper problem that we have and only God can tell us what that problem is and how to be free from it. I have been through a significant amount of hospitalization and treatments with this disease, and still I have my mind made up that only God can help me through to a true healing that no MD could every come up with. If you look at the word disease, it is "dis" "ease," something is not right in our make up and has manifested in a physical way.
Like with any serious tragedy in life, I have gone through depression, anger, denial, and acceptance. I had turned away from God, family, friends thinking I could "cure" myself with research on eating very healthy and exercising, only to find that I became emotionally depressed once again. Please do not misunderstand my eating better and exercising has significantly helped my physical body (even though I still get sick and have elevated enzymes). I still have turned to God at every corner asking for his solution to my daily problems. He has the answers and wants a real relationship with all of us, will we listen? It is a battle, but like many said, lean on your support system of family/friends, and not to mention God. Feel free to e-mail/message me anytime.
Stay Strong-
Katie