Living

"Variability is the law of life, and as no two faces are the same, so no two bodies are alike, and no two individuals react alike and behave alike under...

We all remember those days in high school when they tell you, "You must use protection or your partner will automatically get pregnant." What they failed to mention was that it...

Being admitted to the hospital for a flare, procedure, or surgery is never easy and always brings about anxiety over how long the stay will be, what tests will be...

Crohn's disease is unpredictable but the one thing that's guaranteed is that it will flare up. In my 35-year experience with the disease, my flares have varied in length and...

Crohn's disease is a challenging diagnosis. For me personally, I had a very severe case that came on very quickly and intensely. For about 8-9 years, I was constantly flaring and struggling...

How often do we hear about health trends and wonder, "Could it work for me?" One of these is yoga. I've always been interested in trying yoga to see if...

After having had ulcerative colitis for over 5 years, I had begun to feel confident that I knew what food and drinks to avoid. More than that, I thought I...

We've all heard of "FOMO" – fear of missing out – especially when we see others enjoying their care-free life while we suffer in silence, spending nights that we could...

I'm one of the lucky ones. I say lucky not because my journey with IBD has been simple, not because my getting correctly diagnosed or finding a treatment that worked...

It would be nice if there was one pill that would simply solve ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease – but so far, there isn't. Instead, there are a plethora of...

For almost 9 years, dairy was an intense trigger food for me that I had to avoid. Before being diagnosed with Crohn's disease, I was a dairy feign. As a matter of...

The liquid diet. The hunger. The downing of glasses of laxative. The lead-up to a colonoscopy is not a pretty picture. Unfortunately, though, colonoscopies are now a regular part of...

At age 19, I remember I didn't even know what a gastroenterologist was or what one did. But back in 1989, I had an appointment with one to get help...

One thing I have learned with having Crohn's over the decades is that IBD is unpredictable and even though you may get it under control (to a point) and learn...

As with IBD, we all react differently to medications and there are dozens of medications, or combinations of medications, on the market to help us try and live a "normal"...

Other than the mention of a "cure," there is only one topic that causes more controversy when it comes to living with inflammatory bowel disease: diet. Whether it's arguing over...

Unfortunately, last-minute cancellations happen often whenever you are diagnosed with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or any other form of IBD. As we all know too well that 1 minute you can...

I have found in the past 13 years of living with Crohn's disease that it is those who suffer the most who are the most vocal. When experiencing a flare or...

After finding rectal inflammation during a recent colonoscopy, I had the feeling my doctor would bring up adding suppositories to my UC treatment plan for the first time. I always...

During times of inflammatory bowel distress, the tiniest acts mean so much. I realized this when my husband and I traveled during Winter Storm Elliot this past December. First, everyone...