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Sarah Ehler ENG

10,000 km from home when colitis goes from 0 to 100 

In 2009, Sarah Ehler of Halifax was in Hakodate, Japan, on a university student exchange. It was a unique opportunity to study Japanese and enjoy northern Japan. 

She had left Halifax in good health in late September, but within a few weeks, something changed. She says: “All of sudden, I started experiencing symptoms – bleeding, discomfort, pain. I ignored it for a bit. Then I went to the hospital a few times, and they told me I had hemorrhoids. It got worse, to the point where I couldn’t get out of bed. I was tired and exhausted.” 

Unfortunately, the symptoms continued. By December, further tests found that she had pancolitis, her entire colon was inflamed. She needed to be hospitalized. 

She says: “That terrified me because I had no idea what it was. I didn’t know if I was dying, or if it was just like having hemorrhoids. No one could explain what it was.” 

Fortunately, Sarah had health insurance and the insurer agreed to fly her home – 10,000 km. She was transferred to Tokyo but the airline would not let her travel alone. She had to wait a week and a half for a travel nurse. During this time, she had difficulty eating or drinking and was losing blood. 

In January, 2010, she flew to Vancouver from Tokyo. Then on to Toronto, where after a daylong snowstorm delay, she arrived in Halifax. She was taken straight to a hospital Emergency Department and immediately admitted. She stayed for a week and a half trying to get her symptoms under control. 

This whole experience took its toll:

“I ended up with PTSD from the Japan experience. Being alone in a hospital with no family, no friends, the language barrier and the pain. When I came back from Japan, I was struggling with how to deal with this change in my life. I thought: How am I going to deal with this? How am I going to struggle with this? Can I live my life normally?” 

Today, Sarah’s colitis is controlled with a biological drug and she is able to work and travel. But the initial experience and the embarrassment of living with colitis took their toll on her mental health. There were times when she would hide her symptoms from others, stay at home and cut herself off. She had accidents controlling her bowels in public, which only made things worse. 

Fortunately, soon after her return to Halifax, her gastroenterologist encouraged her to get help with her mental health. She did and it has made a difference. A lot of the advice has been practical – anxiety-reducing ways to prepare for going out in public. It has been invaluable to help her cope and live her life. 

Sarah’s message to others about mental health while living with Crohn’s or colitis is: “It's normal to feel depressed about it, it's normal to struggle with it. But there are things you can do to help mentally and physically. You're not alone, there is help, there is support. Be open with your doctor. Don't feel bad about asking for help and going for mental health treatment. Your mental health is connected to your body. If you help your mental health, it'll help your body as well. You need to take care of your mental health to take care of your physical health.”