WEGO writing challenge day#23- hasta luego, social media.

Today's prompt--
Write about how your life would change if there was no social media.

Well, firstly I would no longer be able to play word games with high school friends who live across the country that I haven't seen in 18 years. That would lead to me having a lot more free time. Although, they say word games, crosswords etc... keep the mind active, and young and can prevent dementia in later years. So, I like to think of the time I put in to Words with Friends and Scramble with Friends as preventative measures against mental health decline. I am trying not to lose my marbles.  Candy Crush is it's own thing and I refuse to contemplate what it does to my brain. 
Without social media I would not have such an awesome network of IBDers that I know understand my deal. I'd be missing out on connections with old friends that I lost contact with. I may not be married to my husband.  
I love my blog outlet. I love writing it, even though I do tend to slack from time to time. If there was no blogging or tweeting I'd be missing out on other people's stories and may be feeling much more isolated with everything I have gone through. 
I like connecting with people who I would never know, and yet there they are, like friends I've always had. For as much bullshit that is on the internet there are so many more positives. Effortless connections are wonderful. 

Today's prompt--
Write about how your life would change if there was no social media.

Well, firstly I would no longer be able to play word games with high school friends who live across the country that I haven't seen in 18 years. That would lead to me having a lot more free time. Although, they say word games, crosswords etc... keep the mind active, and young and can prevent dementia in later years. So, I like to think of the time I put in to Words with Friends and Scramble with Friends as preventative measures against mental health decline. I am trying not to lose my marbles.  Candy Crush is it's own thing and I refuse to contemplate what it does to my brain. 
Without social media I would not have such an awesome network of IBDers that I know understand my deal. I'd be missing out on connections with old friends that I lost contact with. I may not be married to my husband.  
I love my blog outlet. I love writing it, even though I do tend to slack from time to time. If there was no blogging or tweeting I'd be missing out on other people's stories and may be feeling much more isolated with everything I have gone through. 
I like connecting with people who I would never know, and yet there they are, like friends I've always had. For as much bullshit that is on the internet there are so many more positives. Effortless connections are wonderful. 

WEGO challenge Day #11 -- social media, what, who, when, wow!

Today's prompt. 

Write about your favorite social network. Do you love Twitter? Facebook? Pinterest? Why?

I love the internet. I can not imagine what life would have been like in High School or college(the first time) with the 24/7 connection to the world. 

Those who know me, know I love them all. Facebook can be oh so annoying, but the positives of what I have gotten from it, make me hang in there. I have reconnected with people who I lost touch with. I get to see where their lives have gone, see their beautiful kids, faces that bring back great memories, and it's effortless to connect and share pics and info with many people at once. Plus, I have a built in IBD network of so many wonderful people that I have never met, and may never meet, who get it and understand and have been in my shoes and me in their's. My facebook IBD groups made me feel less scared and isolated and singular. It allowed me to own my struggle with IBD. It's brilliant!

I also love Twitter. I love getting all my news headlines, traffic issues, funny tidbits, my IBD community exchanges blurbs about their shitty days or their successes. I love the simplicity of the retweet. I love seeing the randomness that celebrities come up with on their accounts. 

On my old macbook. I'm sure my smartphone was with me too.

I'm much newer to Pinterest but I do enjoy it. It is unreal the ideas and recipes and home decor and outfits and picture scenarios can be in one place. It really seems endless and could take up an entire day. I like that everything is on it's own little boards and it becomes it's own little way of passing ideas and stories. 

I use all three to share my blog and share my journey and pass along details and stories of people that I admire or connect with and feel others should read about. 

I love it. I love that you can find out virtually anything in a matter of seconds. I love video chatting and think there should be more of that. I remember dial up with a phone cord stretched into the spare room of my parents house. I remember when AOL disks came in the mail every other day. Amazing how much has changed. I still write thank you cards though. You know, the ones you put a stamp on and mail?! =)

Today's prompt. 

Write about your favorite social network. Do you love Twitter? Facebook? Pinterest? Why?

I love the internet. I can not imagine what life would have been like in High School or college(the first time) with the 24/7 connection to the world. 

Those who know me, know I love them all. Facebook can be oh so annoying, but the positives of what I have gotten from it, make me hang in there. I have reconnected with people who I lost touch with. I get to see where their lives have gone, see their beautiful kids, faces that bring back great memories, and it's effortless to connect and share pics and info with many people at once. Plus, I have a built in IBD network of so many wonderful people that I have never met, and may never meet, who get it and understand and have been in my shoes and me in their's. My facebook IBD groups made me feel less scared and isolated and singular. It allowed me to own my struggle with IBD. It's brilliant!

I also love Twitter. I love getting all my news headlines, traffic issues, funny tidbits, my IBD community exchanges blurbs about their shitty days or their successes. I love the simplicity of the retweet. I love seeing the randomness that celebrities come up with on their accounts. 

On my old macbook. I'm sure my smartphone was with me too.

I'm much newer to Pinterest but I do enjoy it. It is unreal the ideas and recipes and home decor and outfits and picture scenarios can be in one place. It really seems endless and could take up an entire day. I like that everything is on it's own little boards and it becomes it's own little way of passing ideas and stories. 

I use all three to share my blog and share my journey and pass along details and stories of people that I admire or connect with and feel others should read about. 

I love it. I love that you can find out virtually anything in a matter of seconds. I love video chatting and think there should be more of that. I remember dial up with a phone cord stretched into the spare room of my parents house. I remember when AOL disks came in the mail every other day. Amazing how much has changed. I still write thank you cards though. You know, the ones you put a stamp on and mail?! =)

Day #4 WEGO writing challenge.

Today’s Prompt:

• Create a “care page” – a list of your best resources that someone who is newly diagnosed could go to when starting to advocate for themselves or a loved one. Remember to include sites that lead to successful self-advocacy!

I know when I first started having symptoms WebMD became my life line. By the time I got diagnosed I had narrowed it down to Crohn's or UC. I went into my post colonoscopy prepared to be told it was one or the other. It made the news less damaging. When the GI said, "Left sided colitis", it was no surprise. I even knew a lot about the meds that were possibilities and when he put me on Asacol, I had already read about it. 

Being familiar with the words, and the terms didn't make me any more prepared for the LIFE. I felt very isolated and only told a few about my diagnosis. I needed to just carry on. If I told people, they may treat me differently and then it would impact my life. I wasn't ready for that. It really wasn't until my first hospitalization that I finally became more realistic that, UC was a big part of my life. I was sick. I had a DISEASE!!!! Me! A disease. It's hard to wrap your brain around. Once I was hospitalized, it woke me up that life was now different. I was different. In little ways I started to feel alone and defective. I started looking online and through Facebook for groups. I needed a connection with people who understood. I needed that community. What I found was some really great people. Being (pseudo) surrounded by others who are experiencing what you are is empowering. I stopped feeling defective and became stronger in my ability to discuss my issues. I went from thinking no one would understand to knowing there were thousands of people going through what I was and it allowed me to do something about the people I thought wouldn't understand. IBD is a difficult thing to just throw into conversation. In school today it happened. I had said that at one point I had needed 4 units of blood because I had lost so much during my flare, and a person asked, "Well how did you lose it". That's when you get to tell them that you shit blood. There's really no way to pretty that up. My number two's were always bloody? No, that doesn't dial in on the fact that blood literally POURS OUT OF YOU. Like holy shit, I'm going to bleed to death right now on the crapper. Yeah, so IBD is hard to put delicately and many people don't want to hear that. It makes it real. The reality can suck. 

So here is my list of FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC sites that are empowering and educating and supportive and welcoming and helped me to move forward to tell my story whenever I got the chance. Which is often! =) I hope it helps you cope and learn you have power in your story, or maybe you will pass them on to someone you know who just got diagnosed. Or maybe you are just curious. Either way.... check them out! Thanks for reading! 

Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America

http://www.healingwell.com/

http://www.inflamed-and-untamed.com/

You and IBD

Girls with Guts

The Great Bowel Movement

Intense Intestines

Today’s Prompt:

• Create a “care page” – a list of your best resources that someone who is newly diagnosed could go to when starting to advocate for themselves or a loved one. Remember to include sites that lead to successful self-advocacy!

I know when I first started having symptoms WebMD became my life line. By the time I got diagnosed I had narrowed it down to Crohn's or UC. I went into my post colonoscopy prepared to be told it was one or the other. It made the news less damaging. When the GI said, "Left sided colitis", it was no surprise. I even knew a lot about the meds that were possibilities and when he put me on Asacol, I had already read about it. 

Being familiar with the words, and the terms didn't make me any more prepared for the LIFE. I felt very isolated and only told a few about my diagnosis. I needed to just carry on. If I told people, they may treat me differently and then it would impact my life. I wasn't ready for that. It really wasn't until my first hospitalization that I finally became more realistic that, UC was a big part of my life. I was sick. I had a DISEASE!!!! Me! A disease. It's hard to wrap your brain around. Once I was hospitalized, it woke me up that life was now different. I was different. In little ways I started to feel alone and defective. I started looking online and through Facebook for groups. I needed a connection with people who understood. I needed that community. What I found was some really great people. Being (pseudo) surrounded by others who are experiencing what you are is empowering. I stopped feeling defective and became stronger in my ability to discuss my issues. I went from thinking no one would understand to knowing there were thousands of people going through what I was and it allowed me to do something about the people I thought wouldn't understand. IBD is a difficult thing to just throw into conversation. In school today it happened. I had said that at one point I had needed 4 units of blood because I had lost so much during my flare, and a person asked, "Well how did you lose it". That's when you get to tell them that you shit blood. There's really no way to pretty that up. My number two's were always bloody? No, that doesn't dial in on the fact that blood literally POURS OUT OF YOU. Like holy shit, I'm going to bleed to death right now on the crapper. Yeah, so IBD is hard to put delicately and many people don't want to hear that. It makes it real. The reality can suck. 

So here is my list of FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC sites that are empowering and educating and supportive and welcoming and helped me to move forward to tell my story whenever I got the chance. Which is often! =) I hope it helps you cope and learn you have power in your story, or maybe you will pass them on to someone you know who just got diagnosed. Or maybe you are just curious. Either way.... check them out! Thanks for reading! 

Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America

http://www.healingwell.com/

http://www.inflamed-and-untamed.com/

You and IBD

Girls with Guts

The Great Bowel Movement

Intense Intestines

Blog initiation

I have no idea what I'm doing but I wanted to start this as a timeline for what I'm about to go through and how it'll affect my life. I wish I had done this 3 years ago and documented my hospitalizations and weight fluctuations. I have Ulcerative Colitis and if you are like most people I meet, you have no clue what that is. I say I'm sick, but don't look sick (for the most part) and most people don't think it's a big deal. Well, if you have even a basic idea of what your intestines do for your survival, it's safe to say that if they aren't working properly, you are screwed. Basically, my body is attacking my colon(large intestine) as if it doesn't belong in my body. Internal chaos ensues. Malnourishment, intestinal pain, bathroom urgency, blood loss, diarrhea and chronic pain all over. Sounds exciting huh?! No biggie right? Well, that's how most people react. Sometimes I go days without eating. Somedays I won't leave the house because I need to be near the loo at all times. I'm too tired to play with my kids or go out with my husband. Showering takes everything I have some days. Yes, I'm that worn out at 34. Imagine getting ready to go out only to find you used all your juice to get dolled up and now you just want to go to bed.
 So, after about 3 1/2 years of this crap(so to speak) I have decided to have a total  Colectomy in the hopes that I will have my life back. Unlike Crohns disease, once my large intestines are gone, the disease will be gone too. Surgery is May 21st. I am very anxious. I'm not nervous yet. We'll see what happens. This is my story. This is my life. Definitely not as planned. Thanks for playing.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12277951/?claim=75juqmu6hv7">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I have no idea what I'm doing but I wanted to start this as a timeline for what I'm about to go through and how it'll affect my life. I wish I had done this 3 years ago and documented my hospitalizations and weight fluctuations. I have Ulcerative Colitis and if you are like most people I meet, you have no clue what that is. I say I'm sick, but don't look sick (for the most part) and most people don't think it's a big deal. Well, if you have even a basic idea of what your intestines do for your survival, it's safe to say that if they aren't working properly, you are screwed. Basically, my body is attacking my colon(large intestine) as if it doesn't belong in my body. Internal chaos ensues. Malnourishment, intestinal pain, bathroom urgency, blood loss, diarrhea and chronic pain all over. Sounds exciting huh?! No biggie right? Well, that's how most people react. Sometimes I go days without eating. Somedays I won't leave the house because I need to be near the loo at all times. I'm too tired to play with my kids or go out with my husband. Showering takes everything I have some days. Yes, I'm that worn out at 34. Imagine getting ready to go out only to find you used all your juice to get dolled up and now you just want to go to bed.
 So, after about 3 1/2 years of this crap(so to speak) I have decided to have a total  Colectomy in the hopes that I will have my life back. Unlike Crohns disease, once my large intestines are gone, the disease will be gone too. Surgery is May 21st. I am very anxious. I'm not nervous yet. We'll see what happens. This is my story. This is my life. Definitely not as planned. Thanks for playing.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12277951/?claim=75juqmu6hv7">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>