Dear Wife of an IBS Sufferer…

To the Love of my Life,

I love you dearly and I wouldn’t want to maneuver through this life without you. Before you and I got together, I was suffering from an unknown stomach condition that was causing me a world of problems. I couldn’t keep a steady job or a consistent work schedule. I also didn’t finish my college degree because I was going through something that even doctors didn’t have answers to at the time, so I had to sacrifice my education for my health. The bad times didn’t stop there either – it continued after we got together and throughout our relationship. Nevertheless, you stood by my side no matter what.

The real MVP

You always commend me for being such a strong person and doing my best to stay positive in life while suffering from this horrible disease. However, I have to say, you are the real MVP because through my worst of times you neither judged me nor made me feel less of a human being. To you that might be a small thing, but that fact that I understand every person has their own problems and moments of frustration with life, never once did you make me feel worse than I already did, even through your own trials and tribulations. You are one of the strongest people I know.

I consider you to be the one who understands me most, but even with that said, we didn’t always have moments where we were on the same page. There were times when I felt you didn’t completely understand where I was coming from, but to my own fault, it was partly because I didn’t always know how to explain what I was going through. Sometimes I expected and assumed you could just read my mind, but that was clearly naïve of me. I knew I had to do a better job at communicating with you, and thank goodness you were patient and loving enough to let me try. You deserve an award for the World’s Best Supporter.

As an IBS sufferer, I have so many fears like working a regular 9-5 job again or even having children. I can’t see myself being able to handle the stresses of a regular job anymore and I’m afraid I won’t be a great dad because I’m always in pain or incapable of doing certain things at certain times. You’ve helped me through those fears and assure me that I’m strong enough to get through any obstacle in life. You know exactly how to encourage me to stay positive and keep pushing through, especially when IBS is at its worst. You’ve also helped me to understand that it’s OK to walk through life on my own terms, and therefore I don’t have to care about what others think of me.

My wife, I love you dearly. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share my appreciation for you to the rest of the world because I felt it was too personal. However, I believe it’s important to acknowledge those who are always there for us and give them our own version of a “Recognition Award.” This is me recognizing everything you have done and continue to do for me. I hope to be for you and others what you are to me.

I love you, beautiful.