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I haven't written in my journal in ages. It's no coincidence, as it's become a sleep log for me, primarily; a place to chronicle my recurring bouts with waking paralysis and daylight hallucinations-- bouts which have since ceased to exist. Yes, since my last entry, it's all stopped. No more waking up to find myself frozen in place, no more strange voices whispering incessant devious nothings into my ears-- even my strangely upsetting thoughts of the end of the world have stopped. It's all been gone for months, and I think-- to some degree, anyway-- I know why.

Not too long after my last entry, I underwent a series of tests concerning my stomach problems (the ailment that plagued me during the day), and I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease-- an annoyingly persistent intestinal problem that had apparently been destroying my insides for somewhere around two years. I won't waste time explaining the disease-- it's become fairly topical lately, so anyone who wishes to learn about it can do so easily by consulting Wikipedia.

I began treatment in July or August, but it was too far down the line. While my usual symptoms ended almost immediately, the disease had one last trick. A cyst the size of an egg began to grow just below my belly-button. In September, I was admitted for surgery. I was sliced open, and my intestines-- which were found to be largely infected and swollen in multiple areas-- had to be re-constructed. Bits and pieces (many long ones) were removed, and the uninfected segments that remained had to be re-attached to each other. I spent a week in the hospital after that, and was admitted for an additional week after going home to realize that my stomach didn't understand my modified inner-anatomy, and wouldn't allow me to eat.

I had to wait yet another week before returning to school, and struggled for a while to make up all the work that I'd missed. This semester was supposed to be an easy one. After my summer internship I'd made enough money that I could afford to go unemployed for a while. Instead, I gave all that I had just to get things back in place.

I am, however, feeling much healthier than I have in years. Even though I've got somewhere between two and twenty feet less intestine than I used to have (the exact number escapes me), my appetite is as big as it was before the whole mess began. I'm quickly regaining all the weight I lost to Crohn's disease.

While I will always have the disease, the doctors plan to put me on an aggressive treatment-- medicating me before symptoms start to show again. I don't know if this is the true end of my emotional nighttime plagues, but if correlation at all implies causation, then I can breathe a sigh of relief.