Flare Up Free

For 18 months.  It's a record.  Last length of time with no flare up was 17 months back in 1996-97.  I have kept a log of my flare ups since I was first diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at age 12 (having had symptoms for a year, and 2 misdiagnoses) at the advice of my pediatric GI doc.  Here it is:

May 1989--3 weeks
Oct 1989--5 weeks
Jan/Feb 1990--6 weeks (this is when I was accurately diagnosed)
Oct 1990--3 weeks
Feb 1991--1+ month
Nov/Dec 1991--1+ month
March 1992--3 weeks
Oct 1992--6 weeks
March 1993--4 weeks
July 1993--4 weeks
Nov 1993--3 weeks
April 1994--1+ month
July/Aug 1994--4 weeks
May 1995--3 weeks
Nov/Dec 1995--6 weeks
April 1997--1+ month
Nov/Dec 1997--1+ month
July 1998--1+ month
Feb/March 1999--4 weeks
July 1999--3 weeks
March 2000--1+ month
August 2000--1+ month
Nov 2000--3 weeks
March/April 2001--6 weeks
Sept - Dec 2001--4 months (pregnant, couldn't take meds)
April 2002--1+ month
November 2002--3 weeks
Jan/Feb 2003--6 weeks
Oct/Nov 2003--6 weeks
June-Aug 2004 -- 3 months (again, pregnancy and no meds)
May 2005--1+ month
Oct/Nov 2005--1+ month
Mar 2006--1+ month
August 2006--4 weeks
Dec 2006--4 weeks
March - July 2007--5 months (yet another pregnancy)
July/Aug 2008--6 weeks
April/May 2009--6 weeks
Jan 2010--3 weeks
June-Aug 2010--8 weeks

And that was my last flare up.  When I look at that list and look at all the times I've been sick from this illness, I figure out that I've been sick for 4+ years of my life (not including colds and flus)!  4 years spent in pain and confined to home.  This disease does feel like a "sentence" because of how much it takes away from my life.  This is why I am so grateful to have been relatively healthy over the past year and a half.  I almost feel normal.  But, I am careful.  I take my meds, I eat a specialized diet, and I exercise regularly.  I was keeping consistent doctor's appointments, but since we've had no insurance for the past year, that has been difficult.  Once we have it (April), I need to make an appointment with a GI and schedule a colonoscopy (due to my high risk and a history of precancerous polyps, I am supposed to have one every 2 years).  I am grateful that I have options to treat this illness.  And I am praising God for this long remission (that is what the time in-between flares is called).  18 months!  Hooray!