Shawn

Choosing yourself may sound easy, but it’s actually quite difficult. It takes a bit of skill. Many of us may like to believe we choose ourselves (and our health) when...

I recently ran across a post by a young woman who was told to “just apply for disability,” in response to her discussion on chronic illness and her financial well-being...

It’s hard not to get the New Year’s blues when everyone around you appears to be moving forward with life. I see my friends getting married, having babies, and living...

My experience with nausea is pretty extensive, so I figured I could dedicate an entire conversation to this topic alone. Nausea, to me, is the in-between space. You're sick, you...

Years ago, I began to believe that once I learned my body, that was it! Besides the medications and surgeries, I just knew that once I learned what my body...

Trigger warning: This post will discuss some difficult topics such as miscarriage, grief, and loss. If these are topics you’re currently struggling with, I’d recommend checking out some of our...

To the anxiety-ridden patient, I see you. I understand your fears although there are times you may feel they are invalid. I understand you worry over “small things” that don’t...

As I enter the last year of being in my 20s, I honestly feel as if I’m entering my 40s most days. My body does not move as fast. The...

Having a chronic, autoimmune disease during a pandemic is... What can I say? When I became educated on my condition, I of course realized life would be different. I knew...

Recently I had an interview with a job. It wasn’t my dream job or anything, but it was a source of income and would’ve helped greatly with the stack of...

Hello, I am Shawn. If you don't know by now, I have Crohn's disease. It's a chronic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and other complications throughout my digestive system. It's...

You know how you wake up somedays and you can just feel it's not going to be a good day. As if something in the wind is telling you so?...

Yesterday started off as what one would consider a good day. It was pretty "normal" to say the least. I woke up feeling good. Got dressed. Got a bit of...

We celebrated National Ostomy Awareness Day in October. It was so amazing seeing all of my strong beautiful friends and even strangers, showing their scars and raising awareness for their...

It's a new year and with a new year comes new dreams, new goals, new aspirations and more ways to create change. I recently shared an article on my blog...

It may just be my lack of watching television or popular shows, but lately, I've really been seeing a lot of good references to inflammatory bowel disease in the media...

First I would like to thank Julia Matos for this amazing idea. It was her post on my Facebook timeline that inspired me to contribute to this amazing initiative. I...

Holidays are a very trying time for many people. Although the movies and media may not portray it as such. We all have our issues, even those of us who...

This is a topic I haven’t hit on a lot because I’m honestly still trying to navigate it and understand it myself. But I also realize the importance of it...

This is Part 2. Part 1 is here. As badly as I wanted to go horseback riding, I knew it wouldn't end well. My disease has caused so much trauma...