I took two bites of Christmas dinner — now I have an incurable condition

A college student who said she fell mysteriously ill two Christmases ago has been raising awareness about her chronic disease on TikTok.

Lucy Harman, 20, from England, claims she lost 56 pounds in 30 days soon after beginning her studies in 2020.

She recalled feeling weak, enduring constant stomachaches and spotting blood in her stool. She said she refused to believe anything was seriously wrong until she was home for Christmas dinner.

Harman said she took two bites of her holiday meal before she seemed to pass out on the couch.

She remembered waking up in a hospital room to the news she was suffering severe malnutrition and dehydration. She said she remained in the hospital for treatment with steroids and immunosuppressants.

After an MRI scan, Harman was reportedly diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an incurable condition that causes digestive tract inflammation and irritation.

“To give my body a rest, I was given a feeding tube for around six months before I slowly built up to eating properly again,” she told the Independent.

“But I have to stick to plain food like rice and chicken, so I don’t irritate my bowel.”

Harman began posting about her journey on TikTok, where she has 1 million likes on her page and more than 5,000 followers.

“At first, I made story-time videos about my life and health issues, then I started making comedic videos around the topic,” she said.

“I’ve had a lot of lovely responses from people who have been dealing with similar things, but one comment that stuck out to me was a guy who saw my videos and realized he had similar symptoms, so he got checked and found out he had colon cancer.”

“Luckily, because it was caught early, it was very treatable. It was amazing to hear that my videos had helped him so much,” she added about the commenter.

Harman is also educating others through her work with Crohn’s & Colitis UK on its “Cut the Crap” campaign.

“The campaign is all about helping people to get an early diagnosis and prevent people from being in the situation I was in,” she explained. “You can fill out a questionnaire about your symptoms and it will give you advice, and also email you a letter to take to your [general practitioner].”

Harman said the campaign would have been useful to her because she was “terrified” to talk with a doctor about her symptoms and bowel movements.

“Any change in your health, if it’s your bowels or anything, you should get it checked because it’s better to be safe than sorry,” she advises. “Crohn’s can happen at any age, but an early diagnosis will help you get your life back on track.”