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Crohn's & Colitis shirt and attention?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 8/17/2011 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
I bought one of the C&C Tees at Zazzle and I've been wearing on some occasions.

I met up with some of my old friends recently and ended up meeting some new people. Some asked about my tshirt.

Two of them said, they have family members who have been diagnosed with Crohn's and suddenly, the conversation went on and on about what this disease is about for 40 minutes until we arrived at Penn station.

The girls were in shock and disgusted by the symptoms of IBD in a sympathetic manner. And the guys were worried that I would pass it on to them. But I told them that it's not contagious. lol.

Also, the girls and boys were shocked at the fact that the causes of this disease is idiopathic and how our medicinal advancements is futile in curing such autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Behcet's syndrome.

This took place in the train and we were unknowingly loud (after all there were about 15 of us) and I think this conversation grabbed some people's attention in the train. I didn't really want this attention but didn't mind.

Most of my friends said, "You look healthy"
It was true though. I looked healthy and more physically built than some guys. I've been bodybuilding for more than 6 years now. Off for several months several times when I was flaring though.

So my question is, has anyone experienced this? maybe from wearing the shirt?

And do you have any recommendations for other C&C Tees? Mine looks very cheap and the designer of this Tee must be a newbie.
Posted 8/17/2011 7:35 PM (GMT 0)
I do not have a similar story but I think it is cool you educated those folks on us. Thanks!
Dave
Posted 8/17/2011 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
I often get into conversations similar to that, though usually it starts with some sort of "I don't feel well" or "I can't really drink, so i'm sober cab." on my end.

I've never had anyone be afraid of catching it from me, though. Then again, when this happens it's almost always with one or two of my old high school classmates, and in general our class was pretty smart, and we all had to cover basic human anatomy in biology.
Posted 8/18/2011 12:48 PM (GMT 0)
I see. Seems like not that many like sharing their personal issues like this with other people. It's hard to bring it up in the first place, especially when you're flaring.

Kids in my age, most of them, don't even know what Crohn's or UC is and when you mention just level 1 symptoms of IBD, they always mention, "Is it like food poisoning" until you surprise them with blood, mucous, obstruction, etc.
Posted 8/18/2011 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
I had some strangers ask questions when I wore the pruple CCFA bracelet for a short time.  Most just wanted to know why i wasn't wearing a yellow one.  I stopped wearing it as I could not wear it at work (not comfortable with the questions it would bring up there) and I can't stand something on my wrist all day (as I am taking my watch off for the third time today).

I do have a Life is Crap shirt (the antithesis of the Life is Good line).  It has a stick figure behind a stall door stall with the TP rolling away.  People have laughed and then asked why a women would wear such a shirt.  I proudly say that it was a Christmas gift from my husband who understands the nasty nature of having Crohn's disease.  Then I let them ask from there.  I will answer as many questions as they ask, but I try not to be too descriptive (unless they are rude of course)

I think it's great that people overheard your conversation....some folks may take better to understanding when they just happen to hear rather than "being educated". 

Posted 8/22/2011 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
I do have a similar story (kind of)
I have the "Ask Me about My Colitis" shirt: http://www.thegreatbowelmovement.org/ibd-tshirts.html
I am pretty open when it comes to sharing my story. It's super awkward and pretty socially unacceptable to just walk up to someone and start telling them about your diseased colon. So we developed these shirts to let people know that it's OK to ask, and that even though we don't always look sick, we are still fighting our battles.
The best story is from my friend Gary, who wore his Crohns shirt to the movies. A little 7 year old girl and her mom walked up to him, and the girl said she had Crohns too and that she had never met anyone else. He told her that it was OK because he had it too and he was doing pretty well in life...or something to that degree (ahh goosebumps!)

For CollegeStudent- I had the same issues in college. No one knew what it was, and most people thought I was bulimic or something, and worse, most didn't want to hear about it. But it's a good way to educate people, by either opening the conversation or just by living by example. I made it a point to not turn into a complaint-machine while I was flaring in college. I didn't want people to feel sorry for me, but rather be impressed that I had the strength to deal with it. The more I learned to be open, proud, and positive, the more I found I was met with a positive response. Instead of people saying that's gross and they didn't want to hear, they told me how strong I was, and began to ask details. Of course the better response I got, the more I was willing to share...which all leads to increased awareness.
Posted 8/26/2011 5:56 AM (GMT 0)
I honestly, over time, really don't mind talking to people about my Crohn's because I like to educate people about it. I don't feel good everyday and there is nothing I can do to prevent that. And I wear my "I'm not having a good day face" quite obviously so, it's kinda nice that people at work already know and are not asking me what's wrong. Or question why I get stuck in bathroom multiple times a day. An old friend (whom I no longer talk to, she was very unsympathetic), right after my diagnosis told me to stop complaining and take my pills and I will be fine. Mind you, I was freaking out at the time because I felt like I was just handed a death sentence. I had NO idea what Crohn's was like or what to expect. I was scared and shunned by someone that was supposed to be my best friend. I feel like I need to tell people in case I get sick or something. It consumes a lot of thinking when I have something going on. That is for sure :/
Posted 8/26/2011 5:56 AM (GMT 0)
I honestly, over time, really don't mind talking to people about my Crohn's because I like to educate people about it. I don't feel good everyday and there is nothing I can do to prevent that. And I wear my "I'm not having a good day face" quite obviously so, it's kinda nice that people at work already know and are not asking me what's wrong. Or question why I get stuck in bathroom multiple times a day. An old friend (whom I no longer talk to, she was very unsympathetic), right after my diagnosis told me to stop complaining and take my pills and I will be fine. Mind you, I was freaking out at the time because I felt like I was just handed a death sentence. I had NO idea what Crohn's was like or what to expect. I was scared and shunned by someone that was supposed to be my best friend. I feel like I need to tell people in case I get sick or something. It consumes a lot of thinking when I have something going on. That is for sure :/
Posted 8/26/2011 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
It's nice to hear people's experiences.

Increased awareness is what I'm looking for as well. It might be a vain dream but setting up a big foundation to aid people who have been diagnosed with autoimmune diseases is one of the things that I want to accomplish in the future.

To be honest, I don't find CCFA that helpful. Aside from funding money into symptom reducing drugs like immunosuppressants(not saying that they don't help at all), investing in big piece of land to grow super organic crops, grass fed cows, goat, etc is my main goal.

Pesticides are still used on organic foods but just less than the amount used on inorganic food to qualify as "organic foods".

I can eat the peaches that I buy from Whole Food but not the peaches from Stop&Shop. I tried it several times and I experience adverse reactions right away try the stop and shop peaches. But I'm okay with the ones from Whole Food. Bizarre. It has to be the pesticide or something that contaminated it during its growth.

Anyways, I'm going to get those IBD Ts after this hurricane passes lol.
Posted 8/27/2011 4:41 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone with CD tried Zija for their symptoms? Was Diagnosed in JUne of this year. Currently on IV infusion Remicade. Looking for something beside this for the rest of my life. I have heard nothing but good about this product. I'm all for all natural in my body than the other options.
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