About Me

My name is Charlie, and I have had ulcerative colitis for over 10 years now. I cannot pinpoint the exact time at which I first started noticing the symptoms, but I know it was sometime during age 17. I am now 28 years old, married to my beautiful wife for 3 years now, and have a gorgeous 17 month old daughter. We are expecting our 2nd child this year!

I work in a neonatal intensive care unit, which is the ICU for sick and premature babies. I have been doing this work for the last 8 years now, and I love it. Not only is working with parents and babies great work, but I have a full time schedule working only 3 days a week. This gives me 4 days a week at home with my daughter, in addition to letting me rest when I need to. I'll be honest, it's an easy work schedule, and that's a great thing for my ulcerative colitis.

When I first found out I had ulcerative colitis, I figured that once I was better and in remission, I could continue on life as normal, and I did...until my second major flare-up put me in the hospital again for two and a half weeks. I was in an extremely stressful relationship, in addition to working as a restaurant manager. My lifestyle was a busy one, always on the move, going out with friends, and your general young adult happenings.

After my second hospitalization, I realized that my life needed a major overhaul. I ended my relationship, quit my job in the restaurant business, and started focusing more on worrying less and reducing other stresses in my life. My personality evolved from a high-strung, people pleasing, worrisome attitude to a more laid-back, enjoy life kind of attitude. I still hung out with friends, but limited it to only once a week (if that). I still dated, but kept my hours reasonably early. Not staying out too late. My body needed rest, and I obliged.

I went 5 years without another major flare-up, meeting my wife when I was 24 along the way. We dated for two years, and at the age of 25, I had another flare-up. She was able to experience first-hand what life would be like with my flare-ups. She was an angel, and I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful woman at my side.

At 26, I married my love, and went another 2 solid years without a hint of ulcerative colitis. A series of random occurrences contributed to my most recent flare-up...at the time of this writing, 3 weeks ago. I am now recovering and slipping back into remission.

I am starting this blog with the intention of sharing my life with ulcerative colitis. I know there is a large UC community out there, and thousands of people are diagnosed with ulcerative colitis every week. Maybe this will be a resource for them. I know I could have used someone to relate to when I first started out with UC.

Ulcerative colitis is a serious chronic condition that we must live with for the rest of our lives. Come share my journey, and maybe I can join yours as well!

Thank you for visiting, reading, and enjoying my blog! If you feel like checking back, make sure to favorite or bookmark this site!

Charlie