Living

This year was probably the toughest year living with my Crohn’s Disease. The weird part? It didn’t even involve surgery - most of it was rehab and rest… and living...

Concern for mental health and emotional well-being is often overlooked and brushed aside when it comes to treating Crohn’s disease. It’s not something that most GIs address. They tend to...

I see you. I recently spoke during an Inflammatory Bowel Disease event in Iowa and a woman in front of me couldn’t seem to contain her tears. Her young college-age...

Those of us who suffer from at least one chronic illness probably have people in their life who always seem to wonder why they are never “better.” I know there...

Bowel habits have not always been a subject I was comfortable in discussing...whether it be with family, friends or strangers. Everyone knows that poop is a subject that is not...

To be honest, I completely forgot. I forgot what it was like to live a life that didn’t look like this. Labs and infusions and pills - so many pills...

Sometimes it’s easier to blame every terrible moment on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It seems like the only logical thing to do, considering most of the most traumatic events in...

This room is full of emotions. This is the room that 14 yeas ago, my parents would be pulled from and told that I have sepsis, pancreatitis, and needed surgery...

I was a normal 23 year old when my life turned upside down. Outside of a very intense figure skating accident and subsequent laparoscopic knee surgery, I only experienced a...

You've just been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. You're scared and a little embarrassed to even say the words. You don't want to admit it because you fear announcing your...

When my phone began ringing early-Friday morning, I felt something wasn’t right, but my head was so heavy with sleep I couldn’t quite answer. A little while later it rang...

When I first was diagnosed with Crohn’s, I was afraid to leave the house. You couldn’t pay me enough money to travel, and stay in a hotel bathroom. Over the years...

I spend a lot of time talking with fellow inflammatory bowel disease patients. Several times a month, I get questions from women worried about fertility and whether or not they...

It was a dark and stormy night. Seriously, it was. The weather matched my mood, exactly. I was not feelin’ the day, and if I had my way I would...

The unspoken label no one wants, but is referred to anyway.. the "sick" friend. Not everyone has one, but in a world full of amazing scientific research, as well as the...

My stomach looks like I have been through a war. If you saw me walking down the beach, would say to yourself: Wow, what happened to that guy. I wrote in...

Summer is upon us and for many of us, that means jetting off to somewhere exotic. When I was first diagnosed, I was actually living in China -and for the...

My Crohn's Disease journey actually began in China-of all places. Despite having symptoms for almost 12 years when living in the UK, it took a move of over 5000 miles...

The term ‘Patient Advocate’ can be a bit controversial and misleading at times. There is no one definition to show exactly what an advocate actually is. Not every advocate has...

Eff Your Beauty Standards is a movement created by Tess Holiday and it's one I am extremely passionate about. Media in all manners, including social media, all promote a certain...