5 December 2012
To any of you that have read my mini 4 part series called "Choices in Love" I thought I should explain that it stems from a very real part of my life.
My boyfriend, Paul, has suffered with Crohn's disease, a type of autoimmune irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), since he was 5 years old. It is incurable, idiopathic and most likely a genetic mutation of some sort, but no one really knows.
I accept him, all of him, of course I hate that he is ill and wish he wasn't but I still accept it as part of him. And so much of his life has been shaped by being chronically ill, sometimes it is difficult for him to see that he isn't defined by Crohn's, even though he may have been shaped by it. He is still there, just like any other person.
Needless to say, there are some psychological and physical issues we have to deal with. But it all seems like something outside of our relationship, an issue that looks in rather than between us.
But I won't keep blithering on, I just wanted to say that "Choices in Love" isn't entirely fictional (although some bits are, like "winter") and was a way to help me think about things. Although, I genuinely don't like flake on my ice cream. Insane, I know. I just don't. [our first date was in the park, eating ice cream :) ]
So that's why I don't really know what the next part is; I haven't lived it yet.
I'd like to hear from any of you who have any thoughts about this.
The Real Life 'Choices in Love' • Opuss № I