Thank goodness for the iphone, I have pictures of everything!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For the final day of IBD Awareness Week, I’ll let the photos do the talking:

You look like shit when your intestine perforates on a 13 hour trip to the mainland. This was taken after the 5 hour flight from Hilo to LA; on the flight from LA to Houston. Prior to this photo, I spent 45 minutes curled up in a ball on the floor in the “extra leg room row” at the feet of Hawaii Vulcans basketball players – due to excruciating pain that prevented me from staying in an upright position. Little did I know, the magazine in my bag had an article about sepsis, a potentially deadly condition often missed until it’s too late. Was this a warning or what?

This is an NG tube. You don’t EVER want to have this done to you. EVER. It goes up the nose and down through the throat into the stomach (I think). It stays in for days, makes your throat raw, makes it hard to talk without gagging.

The hospital menu got me a little excited. Picture a kid in a candy store. 🙂

There are no words for my happiness in this moment. Anticipation of my first pain free meal in months.

Starting to be “skin and bones scary”. A couple of days after hospital discharge.

Feeling better by the day and picking up weight along the way.

Homebound!! The final flight from LA to Hilo. So much better than the (almost deadly) flight out of LA.

Home sweet home!!! Celebrating my return by going back to work, getting back to running, and saying hello to my favorite beach. Life is a gift – and I’m grateful for all of it. After days of darkness, the light seems so much brighter.