Yahoo Lifestyle What it's like to have Crohn's disease
Photography Carine Thevenau
28 year old teacher, Amber Glajz, shares her personal story of living with Crohn's disease
The diagnosis
In 2000, 15-year-old Glajz noticed pain around her coccyx bone and dismissed it as a sports injury, but two weeks later grew concerned. “I pressed the area to relieve pressure and pus drained from my anus.”
After a stint in hospital, Glajz developed fatigue and fevers, and dropped 7kg within a month. When she developed septicaemia (blood infection), from four abscesses around her rectum, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
The treatment
Management was tricky, as “my body was recognising tissue as bad, eating it away causing huge abscesses”.
Steroids, infusions and a cocktail of antibiotics were used. Glajz also went to see GP-turned-holistic practitioner, Dr Marilyn Golden, after which she eliminated wheat and dairy from her diet and also tried Chinese herbs, homeopathy and some naturopathy, which helped reduce the side effects of the medicines.
During the next four years, Glajz underwent over 20 further procedures.
Then in 2004 she met Professor Thomas Borody from Sydney’s Centre of Digestive Diseases, becoming part of a trial of a new Crohn’s drug called anti-MAP. Her body responded well and she now attributes Borody’s drugs, combined with Golden’s guidance, as the treatment that saved her life.
“I haven’t had major surgery since 2004 but have colonoscopies and blood tests to check progress.”
Today
A combination of East meets West practices have enabled Glajz to say she’s cured of Crohn’s. “They haven’t found traces of it in my body for years, which is extremely rare. I’m on a low dose of Borody’s drugs, but aim to be off them by the end of this year. I rely on good diet, acupuncture as well as AcuEnergetics [a form of pain management], and refuse to let Crohn’s control my life.”
