Matt in Africa
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| My name is Matt Cadman. The following pages contain the documented account of my battle with Crohn's Colitis. I have attempted to prepare this story in a factual, non-biased approach for the purpose of spreading the information that led to my recovery from this chronic disorder. | |
| Primarily, when all else is stripped away, I am defined by my relationship with Jesus Christ, the son of the only God, Yahweh. I'm not a spiritual giant or hero of the faith, but my Lord died for me, forgave my sin, came into my life, and is the Lord of my life. Secondarily, I'm a lot of other things too. I've been a husband for 2 years now to my wife Jerica. I graduated from LeTourneau University in the summer of 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Mechanical Concentration and a Math Minor. I am currently working for a General Dynamics, Vertex RSI, as a Product Line Engineer. My family is relatively healthy--however, the gastrointestinal systems on my dad's side of the family are less than perfect. My grandmother died of Colon cancer, and my father has what he calls "weak bowels," meaning that when he has to go, he has to go. | |
| I spent the first 10 years of my life living near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a small town called Butler. I had a much happier existence than most people that I talk with--my we never went hungry, material possessions were never viewed to bring happiness, and the members of my family all loved each other--to this day, I have never heard my parents raise their voices at each other. Just shy of the age of ten years old, my father pursued a job that relocated us to Pearland, Texas (as suburb of Houston). I grew up living a stress free, ordinary life. I rode my bike around the neighborhood with friends, built forts, caught snakes, and caused relatively small amounts of mischief and turmoil in my community. My sister Rebekah is four and a half years older than me. In 1995, she started attending LeTourneau University and went on to study medicine. She is now a Physician's Assistant and practices in Chicago, Illinois. I decided that I would also attend LeTourneau University for a variety of reasons: they were a division III school, and I wanted to have a chance to play varsity basketball; the school was founded on the doctrines that Christ taught; and it was (and is) an accredited engineering school. This was a no-brainer. I started attending LeTourneau in the fall of 2000. | |
| Staring down the barrel of my first semester at college, I faced the same decisions that many young college students face. I had just left the sheltered environment of home, and I began to realize that I was solely responsible for my actions... I would pay the consequences for both unwholesome choices and bad decisions made in ignorance. I finished my Sophomore year at LeTourneau and started my 2002 summer with expectations of the ensuing trip to Equatorial Guinea (E.G.), Africa to work for a small mission organization that was translating the Gospel of John into that native language of "Fang." I prepared for this trip by initiating visits with a doctor from Longview, TX to discuss immunizations and malaria-prevention medications. I received a number of immunizations and my doctor recommended that I start a malaria prevention medication called Primaquine. Then, I was off to Kansas City, MO where I worked as an internship with Turner Construction for nine weeks before my trip to E.G. | |
| During our stay in E.G., my roommate (David Eaton) and I were warned about the potential to contract dangerous bacterial infections and/or parasites that could make our lives less than pleasant. As part of our precaution, all of our fruits and vegetables were soaked in water with a drop of bleach. At one point during the trip, however, it seemed that our precautions had not been enough. I experienced some "stomach issues." One morning, in particular was rather interesting. I woke up, from my mosquito-net protected bed, opened my eyes, and was overcome with a very strong urge to get to the outhouse ASAP! I quickly grabbed the key to the outhouse, and ran the thirty--some feet to the concrete building--it was the farthest thirty feet of my life! That poor toilet should have received a Purple Heart Medal after that episode!! My roommate, David's response was, "MATT!!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT???" Completely oblivious at what this might be the beginning of, we found the situation pretty hilarious. I figured that this was no more than a case of Montezuma's Revenge, but David was not so convinced. While I was showering that morning, David told Allen and Betty that he believed I had a parasite in my digestive tract. They gave me a couple pills of Flagyl along with some extras for the trip back home, just in case the first dose didn't clear things up. |
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Matt in Africa |