Living

For twenty-seven years, I have been going to my happy place. My happy place is camp. Camp is the place where I spend all of my summers. I started as...

You aren’t alone if you are struggling to gain weight, I’m right there with you. It’s such a strange thing because as a female, being skinny in our society is...

I have a serious love-hate relationship with the internet. On one hand, I love that I can connect with other patients with just the stroke of a few keys on...

Summer is a great time of year. Longer, warmer days; fun outdoor activities; and somewhat of a looser schedule...what's not to love? However, one great pastime of Summer that may not always...

The music was loud. My friends were all having a great time in the bar. And there I was. In the bathroom stall. Hurting. Nervous. Upset. Then, I heard someone...

We all know that when battling a flare-up, being in the comfort of your home is the best option. But unfortunately, real life doesn’t always make that possible. We might...

Most of us have heard the term “noncompliant.” We tend to hear this being said often in the medical world. That term, to me, has a negative connotation. It kind...

I’ve written about "My Journey to Motherhood", the "Emotional Parallels" I’ve found between Crohn’s Disease and Infertility, and the "Stigma" I’ve experienced with both conditions. I wrote about parts of...

Have you ever seen articles online that read like, "I make $150,000 a year and my rent is $3,000? I promise this is not one of those stories. However, this...

When I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I had never heard of it. I had never even heard of inflammatory bowel disease. I had heard of Crohn’s disease, and I...

Will those of us with chronic illness ever be understood? When you are in chronic pain, you are dealt one of two hands - neither are optimal. You can tell others...

If you have Crohn's disease, you likely already feel like social outings, going out with friends, sitting in restaurants, and participating in “normal” activities surrounding eating comes with new and...

You know that feeling when you physically cannot keep your eyes open? Like when you are sitting on the couch at night watching TV and it takes every effort to...

After an almost seven-year hiatus from working full-time for a corporate entity, I re-entered the workforce. During those seven years of semi-retirement, I worked freelance to keep my skills up...

Whether or not you have a child, most individuals would agree that parenting is hard. Although there is no right or wrong way to raise a child, new trends, latest...

The other day I received my new insurance card in the mail. Seems odd considering it was the end of June and we are halfway through the year. I was...

My mom recently had some issues with her ear that prompted her doctor to tell her she needed steroids and/or steroid injections. My mom is someone who doesn’t like to...

Today I want to cry. I'm 13 years post-surgery for Crohn's disease and I'm not exactly a newbie at the game. I'm fully aware of my body, stoma, and ways...

Dear Prednisone, Oh, how utterly difficult you can be. Whenever you are given to me, I am met with the most conflicting of emotions. I am thrilled and grateful that...

In May, I became a mother. These words still feel incredibly powerful (and slightly surreal), as I wondered and worried (and sometimes even grieved) for more than a decade about...