13. Crohn's: Endurance

Period: January 2012

In the new year I waited for the ultrasound follow-up with the consultant. And waited. In February, when there was still no word from the hospital my dear Mum called them, to be told that I had slipped thought the system (A.K.A forgotten about).

At this point, worrying about my health had taken over my daily thoughts. It's difficult to explain to someone who has never suffered a long-term illness, but as an example, when a healthy person is engaged in a conversation, chances are they will be focusing 100% of their attention on the person and what they are saying, or thinking about something random like what to have for dinner. When you have Crohn's, you are trying to maintain a normal conversation while really you are thinking about how much pain you are in.

This sort of thing was particularly important as I worked on the front desk of a luxury hotel. I used to try and get the afternoon/evening shifts as much as possible, as starting work at 7am meant spending a large portion of the morning in the toilet. Thankfully, there was a toilet above reception that I could use, providing no functions were taking place. Unfortunately, it was also right next to a guest room, so one of the first things I would do upon arriving was check the computer to see if it was occupied. When someone is paying £200 for a night's accommodation the last thing they want is to be woken by the receptionist exploding out of her rear end!

One particularly funny memory involves the poor cleaner knocking on the toilet door at about 8am to tell me there was someone at reception waiting to check out. Before 9am there was only one member of staff to man the front desk. There was absolutely nothing I could do but sit there and wait for the poop to stop leaking from my burning A-hole! By the time I returned thankfully the customer had left, at least it avoided the need to provide an explanation when I finally returned.