Peter’s Story

I was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 5. At that time, I didn’t really know how it had affected me or what it did to me, but then I started to have a lot of pains in my stomach. When I was 6 ½, I was so tired I couldn’t play soccer, and one day I suddenly had to go to the hospital because I had a flare up. I had no clue what was going on. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital for about a week and had to have an emergency blood transfusion. It was a rough time but I was glad to have support from my family. My classmates in school all made me get well soon cards which made me feel better.

Now I’ve been in remission for a few years and still can’t eat certain foods, which is hard. I have to take lots of medicine every day and I get sick a lot because I can’t fight things like colds very easily. I don’t know any other kids at school who have ulcerative colitis, so I like doing activities where I get to meet other kids who have IBD. I get to still play soccer when I feel good. I hope someday they can find a cure so other people don’t have to live with ulcerative colitis like I do.