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Personal Narrative: The FODMAP Diet

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Finishing high school while battling serious health issues is a very difficult task. Especially for someone who feels they are an overachiever in school. Ever since December of my junior year I have been dealing with stomach issues. Foolishly, my mom and I believed it was a stomach bug that would go away after a few days. However, my pain started to become worse and I started to miss school at least once a week, which made it very difficult to keep up with my schoolwork and grades. Finally, in March I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (or IBS) and given the medicine Hyoscyamine to try out. Basically the medicine was used to relax my stomach and stop it from cramping. The medicine worked pretty well for a few months. I was able to …show more content…

I had to miss most of the month of September going to specialists or the hospital. The first time I went to the stomach specialist, the doctor told me to go on a limiting diet for IBS called the FODMAP diet. The FODMAP diet was very difficult and I was not getting any better within a week of my last doctor visit. Eventually my mom decided to take me to the Emergency Room. After doing a CT scan the doctors noticed something was wrong and they issued a colonoscopy. I was terrified because I never used anesthesia before, but luckily everything went as planned. The doctor found white spots on my large intestine and diagnosed me with ulcerative colitis. Meanwhile, during all of my medical tests, all of my teachers were giving out actual tests. When I finally returned to school, I had 4 tests and 3 quizzes to make up and still dealing with a lot of stomach pain. The doctors ordered an antibiotic for me which I started 2 days ago. I can feel myself getting a little better each day. Although my teachers have been very patient and understanding, I felt and still feel this pressure to keep up my grades while I am in pain. However, even at times where my stomach issues had made me feel hopeless, I have always promised myself that I will not let my pain affect my grades. Since I was diagnosed with my stomach issues my grades haven’t dropped at all. I’ve learned how to cope with extreme pain by doing school work and

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