Living

For many people, holidays are a point of struggle. Memories, sometimes even flashbacks of hospital visits, can linger, blocking good holiday cheer. We sometimes fear that we may land in...

When's it going to happen next? Oh, you know what I'm talking about. That moment when your inflammatory bowel disease randomly, haphazardly, decides to interrupt your day and your life...

When people first ask me to explain how my Crohn's disease affects me, there are a lot of questions related to diet that follow. I have my own "elevator speech"...

When I was discharged from the hospital after my year-long stay, they had to send me home with a twenty-four-hour nurse.  A nurse? Why would I need a nurse?  The...

The day I decided to tell my boyfriend that I had an ileostomy, I was a nervous wreck. In my head, I rehearsed what I should say. I wanted the...

With the holiday season upon us, I wanted to take a moment to remind a few people that the holidays are not easy for many of us. For people who...

It's so easy to think about life before diagnosis. Reminiscing about that precious time of invincibility. Whether you were going to have a "feel good" day was the furthest thing...

I recently had one of my semi-annual dentist appointments and was dismayed to hear that my gums had severely receded since my previous visit. My dentist told me I was...

Ask anyone who's been on high doses of prednisone for any given time, and I guarantee you they won't brag about how beautiful they felt. It might assist in being...

This holiday, not only was I surrounded by my immediate family, as most are, but also by my work family. They care deeply about me and I'm grateful for that...

You don't need to wear a cape to be a super hero. You don't personally need to struggle with chronic illness to be a rock for someone else. But you...

Giving can seem like a one way street. We let go of something that belongs to us - often my money or clothing or food - so that someone in...

There’s a widespread misconception about the big bathroom stall. According to my former coworker: “The big bathroom (stall) is (only) for old people.” As a young woman suffering from an...

You’re bound to have a different opinion than some of the care providers you may have on your healthcare team.Then there will be times you feel like certain restrictions are...

I’ve just seen the most heartbreaking image. It was of a 10-year old boy with a tube in his nose sitting in a hospital bed. Next to him is his...

Oftentimes, people with diseases, such as IBD, feel an urgency to straighten out their lives, examine their purpose, and confront the reality of death. Ironically, in spite of the physical...

It's no surprise, people can't stand the thought of getting a colonoscopy. Whether it's your 60-year-old dad, your grandma or... yourself. Unfortunately for those of us with inflammatory bowel disease...

Dating with an ostomy can be daunting and a little frightening. It’s hard to put yourself out there in the first place, and it’s even more difficult to let your...

Being on bed rest is never fun. It can be long, dreary, and time-consuming. With ulcerative colitis, we can find ourselves on bed rest for various reasons. Whether it's a...

We all know that Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can affect the body in many different ways, both within the digestive tract and outside of it. I have dealt with...