Living

Last weekend, I got to enjoy one of my favorite fall activities. No, I didn’t visit a pumpkin festival with the hopes of gorging on every conceivable pumpkin food item...

Lately, I find myself wanting to talk about the stuff we don’t ordinarily talk about. Things that might embarrass us. Things that other people might be experiencing, and feeling alone...

When I was first experienced ulcerative colitis symptoms, I hid them from my family. On a visit home my parents figured out that something was wrong because I kept running...

It's been more than 7 years since my partial colectomy surgery and I often reflect on how much it has changed my life for the better. However, upon hearing the news...

Crohn's patients are all too familiar with the unsolicited advice we receive from others about how to treat our disease. What causes a flare, what we can do to "cure"...

Lately, I’ve been experiencing a new phenomenon in my life with inflammatory bowel disease. Up until recently, I was a first-thing-in-the-morning pooper. I knew that in the hour between waking...

Crohn's disease can easily make you feel like an outsider. Why? It often exacerbates a sense that you are not like others. It also frequently alters your priorities away from...

I realize this can be a loaded phrase, and it’s okay to disagree with me, but I am just sharing my opinion: I think despite being diagnosed with the horrid...

Emails. Phone calls. "Chat" messages. "Ms. Musick, can you help me?" Teach. Change Class. Change subject matter. Bell rings. Intercom interruptions. As a classroom teacher, I am inundated with daily...

A question I'm often asked, and one that I’d like to pose to you is, "Do you think our healthcare team should be bringing up surgery sooner rather than later?"...

If having Crohn's disease isn't bad enough, lots of us struggle with other digestive symptoms alongside it. For me, one of these is acid reflux: categorised by burping and a...

“My friend had that. She takes Buscopan and she’s fine now.” Let’s look at this statement for a moment. If someone had it, it’s not inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). If...

Going for your infusion every 4-8 weeks can be difficult to fit into your busy schedule. And, let's be honest, it is not always the most comfortable situation – the...

When I started experiencing daily symptoms of Crohn’s disease in 2009, I had no idea they would become part of my forever. I was naive and unorganized, and I had...

I attended a wedding in Connecticut recently. It was a very nice affair on a pastoral farm in an area that felt more like Iowa. It was nice to gather...

I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease back in 2011, and I feel like I have tried it all. I am sure you feel that way too. Likewise, every Crohn's patient...

I don't think we talk about the kind of tests and procedures we encounter throughout our journey with IBD enough. For me, because there have been so many, and because...

Let’s talk about it. That agonizing feeling. It might be during a bowel movement, it might not be until afterward, but I’m quite positive most people with inflammatory bowel disease...

"Ohhh... my gut!" My adult son was visiting one weekend. He made this exclamation after waking from our evening spent catching up while drinking a few alcoholic beverages. "I think...

I am excited to announce that I am due with my second child in December of this year. Our daughter will turn 2 in September, so having two little ones...