Living

I know this topic isn’t commonly talked about or even researched very much as far as I can tell but I want to write about it. I am not a...

The day of my sister’s wedding had finally arrived. Everyone was happy and excited. I was, too. but I also had more pressing issues on my mind. Surgery was in...

For the final day of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness month, we asked Marisa - our phenomenal contributor and IBD advocate - 31 things about herself. We hope her candid responses help...

We know that inflammatory bowel disease is so much more than just urgency and diarrhea. Many of the most impactful symptoms happen far outside the bathroom walls. And while some...

I wanted to share some of words of wisdom and advice that I have heard from some of the important women in my life. All of this has helped me...

After the long, confusing process of applying for Social Security disability benefits, it is understandably very frustrating to receive a denial. While the Social Security Administration (SSA) has no official...

I started to get into basketball when I was thirteen years old. My parents had season tickets to the Philadelphia 76’ers , and I was able to go the ever...

As stated in my last blog, by July 4th 2007, doctors thought I had Listeria, a bacterial infection that had manifested in my blood stream for eight weeks. The infectious...

I have been having more GI symptoms than normal over the past year and a half. They have definitely gotten worse over time but I am still at the point...

Between the Summer of 2008 and June of 2009, I was doing pretty well. I had not been in the hospital and things were looking on the upward swing. One...

One of the best things a patient can be armed with is knowledge. In my experience, the more that I understand about my illness the better I am able to live...

By May 2007, I had come across another flare up. I didn’t think much of it. It started off slow, but I noticed that my bowel frequency had increased. I...

There is something that happens to me often when I am hospitalized for a long time, I have a major surgery, or even if I have to go through a procedure...

After Christmas Day 2007, I found myself still in Temple Hospital. The surgeons came into my room to remove the staples from my chest. Can you imagine getting 83 staples...

For an outsider who doesn't really know that much about Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, they might not understand how IBD impacts almost every facet of a person's life. Eating...

In February 2009, I decided to fly to the Cleveland Clinic. Why you ask? I wanted to see doctors that were the best in the world. I had read and...

Dr. John Rombeau greeted me in the pre-operating room at Temple Hospital on the morning of December 17th 2007. It was around 6:30 A.M. and I was getting ready to...

I was at an event where a friend of mine who suffers from Crohn's disease was having issues and really did belong inside of the hospital. He was a plane...

Have you ever eaten a meal and almost right after you've eaten, you are rushing to the bathroom to have a bowel movement? You've probably used the phrase "Food goes...

Finding out you have a chronic illness comes with a lot of feelings; from the moment you are diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, your world forever changes. In the past you...