Its March 22nd and I’m going through one of my worst bouts with this disease and it’s so dis-heartening! I had been so lucky for so long to feel like once again I was living a normal life but this week has reminded me that I am no longer 100% healthy and if I don’t stick to my doctors orders I will feel the harsh symptoms of this disease. I hadn’t had a bad flare up in months and I decided I was going to stop taking my medicine. In my mind I felt like everything in my life was just better before I started taking medication and I wanted to be like that again! I wanted to train without it!

Everything was good, training was fantastic and I was feeling healthy. Almost six weeks without my medication and still nothing! My family, coaches, and fiance didn’t agree with me not taking my medicine but I was doing this for me! I wanted to be my old self again…… Well this had to be one of the toughest weeks of my life. Although I was still able to train most of the week, I had some of the most painful ulcers in my mouth and over 30 lesions on my skin. Now I wished I never stopped taking my medication. The doctors are always optimistic that the disease will go in remission the longer you stay away from a flare up. I was at a year and counting, now I’ll have to start all over again!

For anyone that has Behctes or any other disease always follow your doctors orders. Although sometimes we feel like we know what’s best for us, our doctors have seen a lot more than we have, and of course hindsight’s always 20/20. I can’t complain; I have seen so many others with this disease that are much worse off than me and I count my blessings everyday that this illness hasn’t stopped me from doing what I love to do, but if I can share anything with my fellow sufferers………ALWAYS TAKE YOUR MEDS!!! 

San

Hey guys,
I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while!

Ever since I’ve put up this section and been in a few more publications I have gotten so many emails from others that suffer with this illness and just encouraging letters from others that don’t. It’s overwhelming to say the least!

I’m very proud to say that one of my sponsors, Coca Cola, has volunteered to help the ABDA by sending some cool products to be auctioned off. I can’t explain how much that means to me, and I sincerely hope that we can get more awareness and more help to aid us fight against this terrible disease. 

I do believe with adequate resources and knowledge we can conquer Behcets and I plan to do my part to help.

Please feel free to write me at runwithsanya@sanyarichards.net with any specific questions or post on this board anytime.This is our corner…….

Until next time
San
PS My races are on the 16th, 17th and 19th!!! Keep your fingers crossed

I’ve gotten some of the nicest letters from people who suffer with Behcets disease or that have family members that do and most of the times the letters say how much I’ve inspired you. The truth is, your letters inspire me more than I could ever explain! Most people have no idea how difficult 2007 was for me dealing with the symptoms of Behcets and not knowing what was happening to me, but I’m happy that the worst is behind me and I’m looking forward to representing all of you that suffer from this disease in the Olympic trials and hopefully the Olympics later this year.

Since most people may not know, I was diagnosed with partial Behcets last year and I suffer from fatigue, terrible mouth ulcers, and skin lesions. I’m lucky because Behcets can be very severe with loss of vision and even lesions on the brain. Its a difficult disease and even though most Americans don’t suffer from it, it’s still something that young kids and the elderly deal with, and I believe that as more people become aware of the disease we will find a cure for it!

I wanted to make this a section specially for other’s that suffer from the illness or anyone who wanted to know more about it.

Thanks for writing and God bless!

Sanya