How Were You Diagnosed With Ulcerative Colitis?

Kimberly Hooks of Powder Springs, GA, was supposed to be celebrating her one-year anniversary with her husband, but wound up spending most of their “romantic” getaway battling GI symptoms in the restroom. Back home, she went looking for answers. It would take more than a year to receive a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, a condition Hooks knew virtually nothing about. “I didn’t realize how severe this diagnosis was,” says Hooks, who has since put her experience to good use as an ambassador for the Color of Crohn’s and Chronic Illness organization.

It literally took a year before I was officially diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Prior to being diagnosed, I really, truly didn’t understand it. I just remember growing up, my mom would cook me breakfast in the morning. The grease from the bacon may have kind of upset my stomach. So, I just remember as a child, food didn’t really agree with me. It wasn’t until after I had my daughter. I was 27 years old, my one-year anniversary trip with my husband and my stomach just felt like it was on fire. You know, I couldn’t stay out of the restroom. Instead of me enjoying my anniversary trip, I was in the bathroom with cramps and I didn’t understand it. So, when I went back to Atlanta, Georgia, I made an appointment with my GI doctor, and I wasn’t really given a true diagnosis at that time. I was just told to take some milk of magnesia, have the stool sample, and the stool sample would come back normal. So, a lot of running back and forth to the doctor with really no relief. All I knew was that something isn’t right. It literally took a year before I was officially diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The doctor said, Well, you have this chronic disease. You will have to take medicine for the rest of your life and there is no cure. I did not realize how that would affect me. I didn’t realize how severe that diagnosis was. I was fairly young you know, I was in my twenties. I kind of was like, Okay, I have this disease. The doctor tells me, take medication and I’ll be okay. I had no idea what this symptoms and what life would be like living with a chronic disease. I was clueless.