Travelling daily to work with Crohn's......How?

well??????? I guess if it was me I would try to make sure I get up early enough in the a.m. to make sure i go enough(bathroom) eat lightly in the a.m. before you go to work, your life in the morning will evolve around that, it would for me

I commute an hour and 45 minutes each way every day to get to my job (also in NYC). I've tried just about every mode of transportation there is in order to find the one that works for me (I drive to Jersey City and take a 6 minute ferry ride to downtown).

Do you have any other alternatives besides the subway, like maybe taking a bus? It will probably take you longer, but if the route is along regular city streets, at least you can hop off and run into a McDonalds or Starbucks to use the bathroom if the urge hits you. You may still have anxiety about it (I know I still do), but it might not be as bad as taking the subway.

I hope that helps, and good luck with making this decision.

Find a way to do it otherwise the DD wins. I have faced what you are facing now on a couple of occasions in my career and though I have had a couple of accidents and too many close calls to count - I wouldn't change it because "not doing it" is more painful to your psyche. As others have suggested; get up earlier, empty yourself out, avoid food, take some immodium or loperamide, know your route of travel and all of its emergency stops, carry a quick change kit if need be and just do it. There will be an accident or two along the way but you can and will overcome it. Flares come and go.....regrets linger. Good luck with your decision.

First, congrats on the promotion!!! Don't let this disease take away the satisfaction and excitement of a promotion, especially when the economy is so bad. Good for you!

Now, on to the bad - yes, you may have a bad flare up. In that case, I highly recommend taking advantage of your sick days, and taking time off work to give your body the best change for a speedy recovery. The other thing to consider is whether you can work from home if you have some bad days, or shift your work hours so you can have a later start to your day. It seems like most people with crohn's have problems late at night and in the morning. So, perhaps, shifting your schedule say from 11-7, would be acceptable? Or even better, work from home on those days when you are having problems. I hope your job will permit this flexibility.

If not, I'd recommend what the other posters have already said - have a light dinner, eat very minimally in the am, wear "street" clothes (clothes you don't mind getting soiled, and that won't show soiling very easily), wear depends under the clothes, and carry clean up wipes, and a change of clothes with you. If you can take a bus or a car, it may be easier to duck into a shop to use the facilities. But other than that, perhaps if you are renting a place, you can move closer to where your new job will be when your lease expires.

I have a friend, who has a home in New Jersey, but works in NYC. He slums it in NYC living in an apartment that he rents with a bunch of friends, and goes home to New Jersey on weekends. If you have some friends who live close to work, and you are in a flare, perhaps you can share - though I know that's far from optimal. Another option maybe an extended stay hotel close to work that you can rent if you are having problems? I don't know which city you are in, so I don't know how much of an expense that'll be.

But there are ways to deal with it, if it happens. Worst, you have to take FMLA and just recover. So, don't let the disease bring down your excitement of this promotion! Enjoy the fruits of your hard work, pat yourself on the back, give yourself some retail therapy, go do something fun, and bask in it! I'm so excited for you!

PV

Thank you all for your advice and support. I definitely am excited, but it droned out with the anxiety and nervousness that came with it. I'm gonna go for it and just let it play out. Thank you all.