About 24 years ago, I started having symptoms of ulcerative colitis and then was diagnosed right after I got married. I won’t draw any conclusions about what caused me to develop the condition at that time. I’ve been keeping it under control, for the most part, primarily through medication. When I was diagnosed, there weren’t that many choices; now there seem to be a bunch.

Every few years since then, I’ve had a colonoscopy, and my gastroenterologist has said there has been some inflammation and sent me home with cool pictures he took (maybe cool isn’t the right word).

I’ve tried to have a pretty balanced diet, exercise regularly, and have made attempts to keep stress under control through daily meditation over the last 7 years. For the most part, I haven’t had flare-ups and have been living with the disease.

Last year, after I had a regular colonoscopy, my gastroenterologist said that I was in clinical remission with no signs of active colitis. This was absolutely awesome news, and everything I have been doing must be working to keep it in check.

When I went to my primary care doctor for a checkup, he commented on the results and asked if anything had changed in my life. I thought about it and realized the biggest change in my life has been around stress. At the time of that colonoscopy, I had a job (and still have it) that is as stable as one can get in a job (more stable than the government), my wife and I have managed to raise our son that was about to graduate high school and soon finish his associate’s degree, I was volunteering a lot, which filled me with joy, and financially, I had nothing to worry about. All of these things basically reduced my stress level to a very manageable level. While I have tried to manage stress throughout my life, it wasn’t until last year that all the pieces finally fell into place.

It is amazing that stress can manifest itself in physical ways. I just hope that I can keep everything in check with my stress so that my colitis remains in remission.