“In sickness and in health”.

5 simple words that mean so much to me now. When I was a kid growing up I always dreamed about my wedding. I had everything planned out, the flowers, the way I would wear my hair, my first dance song, every little detail. I dreamed about saying these vows to my future husband but never did I imagine how much those 5 words would end up meaning to me. I’m going to brag about my husband tonight, because he deserves it and so so much more for everything he has done for me. I was 15 when we started dating, almost 10 years ago. Looking back now I know just how young we were, but we were already dealing with very grown up issues. River was with me from the very beginning of my disease, which is a lot for anyone to handle. The fact that he was able to stick it out with me and not run in the other direction screaming is truly inspiring to me. I hid how sick I was for a long time, I was in denial and kept it from even my parents for years. Everyone thought I had an eating disorder, including myself at times. I didn’t understand what was happening to my body and I was too scared to get help. River held my hand throughout the entire thing and encouraged me to seek treatment. For that I am forever grateful to him, but our journey didn’t end there. Throughout the years River has been around for 9 colonoscopies, 1 small bowel resection, 1 blockage procedure, 1 proctocolectomy, about 50 humira shots, numerous infusions, and hundreds of doctors appointments. “In sickness”. Looking back now I realize that our entire relationship has been in sickness. He really meant those vows. Im not throwing a pity party, aside from the “sickness” part we have lived a very blessed life together traveling to 3 different countries and living in 3 different cities together. Our adventures always seemed to have a black cloud over them however. My crohns was always in the background waiting to pop up and ruin the day. As a kid I never could comprehend how important those 5 words really are. I hope many of you never have to deal with the “in sickness” part, but if you do, I hope you have a “River” holding your hand through it all. My rock. Looking forward, I am beyond words excited to live the “in health” part.  For the first time, I am in remission and I have so many plans for myself that I was never able to experience before.

Never take “in health” for granted.

C