Peace after early childhood trauma

The following excerpt is reprinted without permission from the New York Times article "The Other Brain Also Deals With Many Woes"...:

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Recent studies suggest that stress, especially early in life, can cause chronic GI diseases, at least in animals. "If you put a rat on top of a little platform surrounded by water, which is very stressful for a rat, it develops the equivalent of diarrhea," Dr. Mayer said.


Another experiment showed that when young rats were separated from their mothers, the layer
of cells that line the gut, the same barrier that is strengthened by mast cells during stress,
weakened and became more permeable, allowing bacteria from the intestine to pass through the
bowel walls and stimulate immune cells.  "In rats, it's an adaptive response," Dr. Mayer said. "If they're born into a stressful, hostile environment, nature programs them to be more vigilant and stress responsive in their future life."


He said up to 70 percent of the patients he treats for chronic gut disorders had experienced early
childhood traumas like parents' divorces, chronic illnesses or parents' deaths. "I think that what
happens in early life, along with an individual's genetic background, programs how a person will
respond to stress for the rest of his or her life," he said.
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If the bolded sentence is any indication, I had a really shitty childhood.  I guess it's the gift that kept on giving!

On the bright side, I've got a second chance now and am determined to make it count.  Not only do I have a second chance in the physical sense but in the psychological sense too:  This disease has changed me, my priorities and my relationships.  It's been painful and difficult but I may be closer to finding peace than at any other time in my life.  I've learned what it means to suffer.  I've learned what it means to lose control.  I've learned how wonderful it is to have supportive friends and family.  I've learned how to ask for help and how to trust in others.  I've learned to have more compassion for others.  I've learned to respect my body more.  I've learned that I'm not an island.   I've learned in a palpable way that I can die.  I've learned that time is fleeting and that everything will change.