Gluten Free

I will continue to post on here about my current health status and whatnot, but I will be moving my Gluten Free Diet test progress reports to my other blog, Gluten + Me.

My Story

My name is Jenner ValJean Bird and I have Crohn's Disease. I've always thought it was spelled 'chrones', but I guess I was wrong. Anyway, Crohn's is both an Autoimmune Disorder and an Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Before you go Google/Wikipedia it, you must know that mine is different from usual Crohn's. Instead of being found in the lower GI (gastrointestinal), mine is found in the upper GI. While this is odd, I am actually quite grateful because Crohn's found in the lower GI can cause terrible diarrhea, I am so glad I've never had that problem.

I was diagnosed with Chron's in 2005 during my seventh grade year at Lehi Jr. High School after being miss diagnosed with mono, H-Pylori, and a bunch of other stuff. That, however, is a story for another day. So, my family, after researching crohn's and finding out all the terrible things that could happen, decided to move to California so I could be seen by Doctor Marla Dubinsky at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. After many fruitless attempts at stopping my chron's we resorted to Remicade, an infusion of Infliximab. And it worked great. My stomach aches were going away, I was able to process nutrients better, and I was gaining weight. It was incredible.

We moved home for my ninth grade year, but Cedars-Sinai was one of the only hospitals that could treat children with Remicade, so I had to fly back out every six to eight weeks to receive my infusion. Not too much later Primary Children's Medical Center got the okay to treat children as well. I don't know how all that works, but it sure was great news. Anyway, that's where I met Doctor Stephen Guthery who became my Primary Care Physician, I think.

Years later we wanted to switch to another medication because of the possible negative effects of Remicade. It worked for a bit, but then my Chron's flared and I spent a week in the hospital before switching back to Remicade. Exactly a year later, October 2011, I switched again. This time I switched to Humira, a more 'portable' medication to open up my options for a mission. Everything has been going fine, except my kidneys have been acting up. I'll be going in for a Biopsy sometime in march to figure out what's up with them.

That brings us up to two weeks ago when I realized that my life was not in my own hands. I couldn't move out even if I wanted to. I was stuck at home under my parent's insurance. This had to stop. Although it might not seem like it sometimes, I do have dreams and aspirations. I have things I want to accomplish with my life, and not from my parents basement. This is why, two weeks ago, I started eating healthier. No High Fructose Corn Syrup and No Gluten.