Tanya,There is one very important thing that all doctors should do when telling someone they have crohn's or any other disease,thats is to make sure that the family members get educated about the disease as well so that there love one isn't feeling so alone and misunderstood!
We need to know that we have our family's support in every way!

tracy i understand your pain with family.i grew up being abused by my mom and older sister. and after i found out i was sick my mom told me it was my fault. then tryed to move closer to my older sis so she could help me. but every time i got sick she acted as if i was being mean to her when i didn't feel like going shoping hanging out at her house .so she got mad when i was sick. then my mother moved close to us and offered to help . but as soon as i would feel worse she would start fights with me and cause alot of stress in my life just so she would not have to deal with me.so i understand that you want them to help and just have some love for you. but the sad thing is until they feel your pain they will never get it. and i wish they would to. and it is a very empty feeling to not even have your family care about you. i know you just need to find another person that can help you through those feelings. and maybe you should just tell them how you are feeling and i agree that they need to learn from other people not just you . about what you are going through. i tryed to get my family to do it but they refused . so good luck i hope i helped you because i could not get mine to help me. i am so sorry for your pain.

Yes, it hurts more when your family just isn't there for you.The people you most count on it's sad,but we must try to keep our heads up and fight this without them!Who knows maybe they will one day get it and understand what they are doing.We need support and that why we have DS for we stick together and we are all here for one another!

i feel like that to girl your not alone they tell you they know its hard on you but you wonder if they real get how hard it is i sometimes want to be alone and sometimes don't

i know how everybody feels cause my family and friends were very supportive.. my boss and some of my co workers weren't so supportive.. they were instead causing me so much stress.. i think that was the one thing that drove me to surgery..

I have been lucky in that department, all my family has cried with me and when I was working my co-workers also understood. I just got over a flare up and my children seem to suffer with me, my son that is 22, worries so much, its hard on him to watch me suffer so much. My daughter that is 30 is a big help, she to worries and cries. I lost both my parents in 2003, they both gave me so much love and support, I miss them so much, I guess I have been lucky. In 1989 I met a wonerful man, he to has been a hugh help, he knew I was sick as we worked together, we have been together all this time, I do count my blessings. Marcie

I was just recently diagnosed with Crohns 2 weeks ago and felt very alone for the last 4 months with terrible pains,weight loss, no eating etc, as you all know too well.. I am so grateful I found this board..I really think it is so hard for others including my spouses to understand just how much pain can be caused by this and how much it has effected my life..

I am so glad we at least have each other to lean on..

Hi my name is Stacey. I feel like that all the time. Like no understands. They just don't know how it feels unless they go through it. I'm here if you want to talk about anything. Just write. OK.

I was just diagnosed with UC (finally) in Oct. I then ended up having surgery in Nov. to remove my colon. I only started having problems in April so it was a quick trip from the start to surgery for me. During the whole process there was the good and the bad with people understanding. I dont think anyone truely understood how sick I was till the first blood transfusion then they started to get the picture. Even with some people being there for me during the whole process you feel alone and sometimes just want to be alone so no one has to see you run to the bathroom 10 times in an hour and sit there and wonder if it wouldnt just be easier to stay in that room. At least my family has a sence of humor lol we all laughed about me moving a bed in there just so life would be easier. I feel for anyone going through this and wouldnt wish it on anyone. I think we feel more alone than most because its an embarassing disease..not something you are going to talk about all that much. Untill I was diagnosed I had never met anyone with it or heard of UC.
Donna

Hi! My 18 year old son has UC and he does feel alone and like no one understands. In fact many tend to disbelieve him and make fun of him. It can be rough for him at school as kids will say things like "You're finally here for a change" or "Oh you just wanted to miss so & so's class" and that type of thing. They don't ask him how he is feeling or say "Glad to see you back". So yeah he feels the same as you lots of time. As a mother I too feel that way. People look at me like I am crazy when I say he is sick. They will say "He doesn't look sick" or "I just saw him driving around town 2 days ago". They don't realize how day to day this disease can be.

Hang in there!

Virgie

I used to be a very social person, but since having the wonderful medical problems that I have... I have kind of stepped aside and isolated myself. I am social at work and to people I run across in public (so I am not anti-social) but I just don't really want to be around people as much anymore. I tend to go online, or read alot. I tend to be more of a hermit. I guess it really sucks when your friends want to go out and do all this stuff.. and you can't because your in too much pain or your sick.

You are SO not alone in this. I completely relate to the feeling of being alone and that no-one understands. I too have isolated myself for years because I felt that no-one understood me and my disease and the limitations it puts on me. I also feel very judged due to the limitations on myself and the very nature of the disease , the symptoms it causes can be very embarassing to say the least and when others dont understand or know the whole situation they can be very cruel. I have even been made fun of in public restrooms for the "explosive" diarrhea. No-one can possibly understand our pain and suffering if they have not actually been through it themselves or taken care of a family member that has this. Luckily , although my mom does not have Chrohn's she does understand and empathise with me. She has been through all my surgeries with me and taken care of me after all of them and has seen personally everything I have been through so she is able to not only sympathize with me but to empathize almost as if she had been though the same thing.

I feel sometimes, (my other half's family), they're telling me what to do....don't eat this don't eat that, you can't do this or that! I get sooo fed up! I do feel lonely some days
Glad to have been told about this site by a friend though!

don't mention it em :)

justputme- I have my mom doing that from 1000 miles away, asking me what I am eating, if I am drinking my aloe vera, how many times a day etc.. it is enough to drive ya nutso! ..I mean how old are we anyway??? it sure is hard cuz I know they'll never truly understand what we are going thru and the pain...good thing we have each other here