Thursday, August 26, 2010

Playing Football with Colitis?

Can a person really play football when they have ulcerative colitis? I'm posing this question because I needed one of my doctors to fill out my jury duty excuse form and I was completely caught by surprise by something he said. Since I had an appointment already set up with my doctor that treats me for colitis, I had him fill out the form. He said that he didn't think that ulcerative colitis would be a good enough excuse to get me out of jury duty because there are guys that can play football with the disease. Wow, really? First of all, I would rather play football then go to jury duty. Who wouldn't? But I have to know if this is something that is common because I sure don't think I could play football with colitis, but then maybe I'm a lot sicker than most people get with this disease because I also have a secondary complication that may or may not be related to the colitis. I'm beginning to wonder if I am an oddball though. I have to wonder if these 'guys' are young because that would make sense. Someone in their twenty's would probably be in better overall health than someone in their forty's. It probably also depends on whether there is a secondary condition present like in my case.

I don't think my doctor was being sarcastic, but I don't know. He filled out the form for me. After I left the doctor's office, it had me wondering though if he thinks like my dad. My dad believes in 'walking it off' when you are sick or hurt. And then I felt like maybe I am being a baby as far as my illness goes. Maybe I should toughen it out. I think maybe I over think things too much and this probably doesn't help me stay healthy. I shouldn't care what other people think. Everyone is different when it comes to how they handle an illness. There are some people that are really sick and can still maintain an active lifestyle. I guess I'm not one of those people and maybe I just need to accept it. I have already tried to keep doing everything I used to do and when I do that I end up feeling sicker because I over did it. I think it's about knowing your body and knowing what you can and can't do. And not what other people think you should do. I just need to remember that.

If there is one perk from having a chronic illness, it’s being able to get out of jury duty. At least I hope so.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

Discovery_Channel_Wolf_Poster_C10076615

My mad colon

No comments: