How Motorcycles Saved My Life

I love motorcycles, I really do. Most people would say that they are dangerous and that you could get killed but motorcycling has saved my life. All started when I was 18 I got diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis(An auto-immune disease which attacks your colon) I had a terrible flare where I couldn't keep fluids in whatsoever. I dropped 30lbs in 2 weeks and could barely walk. I ended up being hospitalized, this hospital stay taught me that I should start doing the things I want to do because otherwise I may not get the chance. After that I bought my first bike a 1980 ke175d, it was a dinky bike and a interesting project but luckily my boyfriend is really good with mechanical stuff. I didn't ride much honestly I was kind of scared of it. I tried switching to a smaller bike and didn't ride it much either. Then I switched to a bigger bike a dr350 but realized it was too heavy for me and too tall. At this point however we had taken motorcycling lessons and was on our way to get street licenses and this helped me gain a lot of the confidence I needed(We had previously been only riding off road). Fast forward to November of this year, I am 22 and have been in sort of remission(remission except I still had really bad joint pain for a year of it) for the last long while(aka the disease was in control and I didn't have symptoms). This however all changed due to general antibiotics which caused an infection in my colon which then caused a flare. I got through a week long hospital stay in November and was on my way to being back to normal however instead of things getting better they gradually got worse. I started my next hospital stay in January and this time no meds could even have touched the inflammation in my colon. There was nothing they could do except surgery. So I ended up having my colon removed and having an illeostomy(They bring the end of your small intestine through the abdominal wall and waste is collected in a bag that you have attached to your stomach). At first I was okay with this life change, it wasn't until I got home that I truly realized how big of a life change this was and I became extremely depressed. Don't get me wrong I was grateful to be alive but couldn't get out of the hole of how my life was going to be from now on. I wished I could go back and I wondered if I should even continue on. During this phase of very bad depression, I decided to try and get back to my hobbies to help. At this time I decided to go with my gut and sell my dr350 and buy a xt225 as it was much lighter and lower to the ground giving me more of the confidence I wanted. I have ridden at least every weekend since I got it. Riding has been better for me than even therapy could be(and cheaper!). The feeling of getting on a bike and just riding is the best feeling in the world and it has gotten me through a lot of those dark days where I didn't see the point of being here anymore. I still have two more surgeries to go(creating a faux colon out of your small intestine called a J-pouch), I will still have good and bad days but I can without a doubt say that motorcycling has saved me. I have two bikes now and might be even getting a third project hopefully soon. I am more excited than ever to continue riding and living my life to the fullest I can especially with my newfound health and lease on life :) I also want to thank all of you guys on this sub and in general the people that ride. During my hospital stays I found myself reading posts on this sub all the time and it made those days easier to get through. Happy Riding Everyone! via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/bugtqk/how_motorcycles_saved_my_life/?utm_source=ifttt