Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week: Warriors Strong

My superpowers aren’t outwardly visible. And, my super-hero cape is not actually a cape.

Instead, it’s a black t-shirt sporting a bold purple ribbon. On the back of this shirt streams a long list of names. Starting with Abbe and Adam, and ending with Yolanda and Zandra. Within this long list of alphabetized names, indescribable superpowers exist.

For these names represent the fighters and survivors of Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week

Since 2011, Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, created by U.S. Senate Resolution 199, helps to acknowledge those living with IBD during the first week of December. This week highlights a shared mission: to raise awareness and educate all about IBD in hopes of creating a future free of Crohn’s and colitis.

Although not outwardly visible, millions of Americans live with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. It is an invisible affliction that causes one to suffer in silence. These incurable diseases attack the digestive system causing inflammatory conditions such as abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever, and weight loss.

Crohn's vs. ulcerative colitis

So, what’s the difference between the two diseases?

Crohn’s disease may infiltrate at any place along the digestive tract. Whereas, ulcerative colitis directly attacks the colon or large intestine. This inflammation may also cause other issues affecting the joints, kidneys, bones, or liver.

But what’s it really like to deal with an IBD?

Living with IBD

Let me offer you a small glimpse: When the 5 a.m. alarm cries out for me to rise, my exhausted hand slaps it off. I’ve spent another night up and down, running to the bathroom. Meals from the day before have had a rough journey through my digestive system. I did my best to choose bland food that I thought my body wouldn’t rebel against.

But any type of food traveling through an inflamed colon is going to find a battle. The result? Another night spent on the commode with bloody diarrhea. Physically and emotionally, I am drained.

So, I pray a warm shower will alleviate the night’s backlash. As the warm water pelts my stomach, I mentally attempt to shift my focus away from pain. But as I exit the shower, I return to the porcelain throne only to relive the night again.

IBD can take over our lives

Once I think I have emptied all that my body holds, I head out the door in hopes that work will distract me. After driving about five miles away from home, I feel the urge within my gut. First, a dull thump. Then, a pain sends shivers up my spine, across my arms, out my fingertips, and back down to my abdomen. I need a restroom... immediately.

With an inflammatory bowel disease, there’s no "waiting." My mind might say, "Hold on until I can park the car." But the IBD says, "Nope. Go, NOW."

As I sit in a public restroom, I think, "How will I make it through the workday?" Pain stabs me again as I wipe the sweat off my brow. That is the endless loop.

Life with an IBD is like the movie "Groundhog Day." Same scene. Just another day. Just more time spent from one public stall to the next.

Treating Crohn's and colitis

But the symptoms of this chronic inflammatory condition can be managed. Through a good physician who takes the time to listen to one’s exact symptoms, medical treatment along with alternative therapies can manage and provide relief for sufferers.

My hope is that Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week sheds light on the physical challenges of these diseases. With an estimated 1.6 million Americans diagnosed with IBD, it’s time to kick butt on the stigma of this inflammatory condition.

Every time I don my superhero t-shirt, I know that my superpowers lie in the names that scroll across the vibrant purple ribbon. For this ribbon reminds us that we are all warriors STRONG.