“It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like.” –  Jackie Mason

Having Crohn’s Disease is like being transported back to being a helpless infant. People talk at you using an incomprehensible language. No one seeks, welcomes or values your opinion. Mummy, in the guise of the medical profession, most definitely knows what’s best for you. Your food is bland, mushy and generally appalling. Your poop becomes an object of fascination for others.

And that’s just for starters.

I had to see a lot of doctors and have my orifices endlessly probed over a seven-year period before I was finally diagnosed at the age of 23 with Crohn’s Disease. Since then, I have spent almost thirty years dealing every day with illness, drugs, medics and the not-so-occasional surgery.

But this is not yet another Medical Misery book. Through trial and error, I have discovered that having Crohn’s Disease is something you can improve at if you approach it with the right attitude. As with any other aspect of life, when you’re ill, it’s to your advantage to try and be successful at it.

By that I don’t mean heroically finding a cure (there is no cure for Crohn’s), or fighting the illness every step of the way (those people tend to die young). Nor do I mean being a model patient, hanging on every word of wisdom imparted by the massed ranks of the medical profession (model patients tend to have the worst prognosis of all). What I do mean is that being successful at having Crohn’s Disease is about being able to take ownership for your illness and its treatment. The outcome is not just the feeling of triumphing over the medics – although that has its moments – but is about not letting your illness impact your enjoyment of life.

By learning to see the funny side of the ridiculous medical procedures we undergo; by being reminded each and every day of the value of good supportive relationships with family, friends and colleagues; by realizing that Crohn’s Disease need not restrict the freedom we have to find our own path through life; by seeing that there are still opportunities to make good choices, the successfully ill have as happy and fulfilled a life as anyone else. This is true despite having an endless cycle of symptoms, surgeries and drug regimes that healthy people would find appalling to contemplate.

My thirty-year grappling match with the illness and the medical profession has taught me more than I would have ever thought possible about how to achieve this goal. In telling you my medical odyssey, I hope to share with you the insights, skills and tips I have picked up in not just surviving my Crohn’s but thriving with it.

Tip #1: Take Your Pick
You have a choice how to be ill. You can attempt to carry on as though nothing is wrong and end up killing yourself in the process. Or you can be a victim, weeping and wailing “Why me?” at every turn and killing yourself spiritually in the process. Or you can be a Positive Acceptor: recognizing that your Crohn’s is a card you have been dealt in the poker game of life, but one that will not take away your ability to play your hand to the full.