Traci Musick-Shaffer

Living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis can make a person feel alone and trapped inside their own dysfunctional body. The emotional toll of my own colitis struggle overwhelmed me...

My husband and I were in the Cleveland Clinic Hospital a couple of weeks ago while he was recovering from colon surgery. I was trying to take notes after the...

Advertising slogans are intended to attract the public’s attention to a particular product. For example, look at the history of the Coca-Cola Company. Their website reports they’ve relied on 60...

It’s no wonder I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) at age 19. As a child, I learned to wad up my feelings as tight as they’d go and stuff...

“How are you able to work full-time with ulcerative colitis?” I am often asked this question by people newly diagnosed with IBD. After living over 30 years with UC, I’ve...

“We’re going to administer this sedative that will make you feel sleepy,” said the nurse with the bright, white, toothy grin. “Yeah, I know. I’m just going to take a...

As one who has suffered from ulcerative colitis (UC) for over thirty years, I’ve heard it all. People love to speculate about what caused my inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). But...

Over the years, I have visited numerous doctors seeking treatment for my ulcerative colitis. Through experience, I’ve learned that not all gastroenterologists (GI doctors) are created equally. If you are...

"What causes ulcerative colitis?" This question is most often asked when I explain my inflammatory bowel disease. Although no one can pinpoint the exact cause, many experts believe some of...

When a friend or loved one is diagnosed with an inflammatory bowel disease, it can be challenging to know what to say or do — especially if you don't fully...

During the early years of my ulcerative colitis diagnosis, I used to go about my days wearing a mask. Not a surgical-style mask like many of us have worn throughout...

Another flare. Another drug. It's the cyclical nature of life with IBD. After years of remission, I have returned to the land of medication. Mind you, I've returned kicking and...

A reality exists that incites immediate fear and anguish for anyone with inflammatory bowel disease. This reality, when it arrives, hits hard and sends quivers throughout the body like bolts...

"Oooh... It smells so good," I think to myself. I try to ignore the sizzle, crackle, pop of greasy goodness. But it's right there in front of me. "You know...

"Eat this, not that!" screams the advertisement on TV. That phrase sure captures the history of living with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's. For years, gastroenterologists handed me a printed out...

"Storms make the oak grow deeper roots." –George Herbert Last night, I saw rippling streaks of lightning across the black night sky. It flashed its wiry, electric charges, and my...

The pain is back. Like a jackhammer in my gut, I feel the pulsating, rippling high-tide of pain throbbing throughout my belly. As I draft these words, I sit hunched...

"Variability is the law of life, and as no two faces are the same, so no two bodies are alike, and no two individuals react alike and behave alike under...

At age 19, I remember I didn't even know what a gastroenterologist was or what one did. But back in 1989, I had an appointment with one to get help...

During times of inflammatory bowel distress, the tiniest acts mean so much. I realized this when my husband and I traveled during Winter Storm Elliot this past December. First, everyone...