How do you know when it's done?

(That title is a shout out to all you "Hudsucker Proxy" fans out there...and if you aren't a fan, you should watch it and become one...GrEaT MoViE!).

However, this post as nothing to do with Hudsucking (??), it is instead about Crohn's Disease (yup, the old bait and switch).

When last I visited my GI she told me my exciting colon issues were subduing nicely but that I was not yet in remission, but hopefully would find my way there soon.  Abdominal pain has decreased dramatically and most days doesn't really bother me.  Joint pain only rears its head on occasion and is very muted compared to what it had been.  Mouth ulcers are all but gone (just learned I could credit Crohn's for that one...another exciting symptom).  Dread of eating has all but vanished.  And so it goes.

So I've been patiently waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting some more. 

And I have no idea what I'm really waiting for.

Everything I read seems to say that even when in remission most of my Crohn's pals seem to experience some symptoms.  Most of them have symptoms that I have never had from the beginning (like diarrhea and bloody stool...sorry, I know that's gross).  I feel so much better than I did when I was diagnosed, but I am nowhere near symptomless.  I still have moments of pain, but they are moments, not days.  I still feel exhausted some days, but who doesn't.

The thing is, any symptom that shows up in my life I automatically wonder if it is Crohn's related.  It seems like just about anything you can think of CAN be seen as a Crohn's symptom (skin problems, eye problems, joint problems -- you name it)...but that doesn't mean it IS a Crohn's symptom. 

I guess what I am saying is will I even know if/when my Crohn's is actually in remission?  Am I going to feel better than I do now, because what I've got now I can live with. 

I don't know how to find this magical land of "remission," or maybe I'm there and I just don't realize it.  I'm just grateful to be able to get through life without having to focus on working through random pains.  That is a very good thing.