Love in the Time of Chronic Illness
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/love-in-the-time-of-chronic-illness/282477/
Dont even tempt me.
That was Ashley Pierces response when her friend Tammi tried to set her up with Walter. Having spent a good portion of the last 10 years in a Las Vegas hospital bed, Pierce didnt even want to entertain the thought of dating.
Besides, if he was anything like other guys she had pursued, she didnt think hed be able to handle it. Hed back out. Four years later, they are engaged. He never backed out.
I never thought someone would marry me with my conditions, 26-year-old Pierce recently wrote in a Facebook status.
Her conditions? Crohns Disease and ulcerative colitischronic inflammatory conditions that affect the gastrointestinal and digestive tracts and include complications ranging from abdominal cramps to malnutrition.
For Pierce, the most extreme cases were when the doctor told her parents she wouldnt make it through the night, either because she had stopped breathing or was dangerously anemic, weighing in at 63 pounds. On more ordinary days, she experiences stomach issues and a chronic cough, among other non-terminal-but-annoying symptoms caused by medicines that suppress her illnesses.