GBM Team – Page 4 – The Great Bowel Movement

Never Shrink Your Dreams to Fit Your Life

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In this guest post, Niki Sibley of Sole Powered discusses her secret to life, and what she’s doing to not only spread IBD awareness but to bring resources to others strugging. And she’s doing it by running across the state of Washington. Yes, running. Visit her on her Sole Powered Facebook Page. Norman Vincent Peale is credited with saying, “The secret of life isn’t what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.” He’s right. Life is notorious for throwing curveballs. You know the best way to handle curveballs? You swing for the fences…and you swing hard! Because in life, you’re not out after 3 strikes, you’re out when you walk away from the plate. Refuse to walk away. Refuse to become a victim of circumstance. Since I shared Norman’s secret it’s only fair that I share one of my own. It’s not really my secret, and technically it’s not really even a secret. But, for simplicity let’s label it the ‘secret’ to success. It’s comprised of three...

Lessons We Learn Along The Way

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Lessons We Learn Along the Way In this guest post, Aaron discusses going to college with IBD, and the little tips he learned along the way to help him cope. He also finds the benefits in talking about your disease and joining IBD communities. Follow Aaron’s journey through life on his blog, Shoebox Memoirs. After high school, life changes a lot. For most people, these changes are great and exciting, but for me, I got a change that was painful and debilitating. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the end of my senior year of high school. No one expects to just randomly develop something such as inflammatory bowel disease, but, sometimes, it happens and you just have to roll with it. Near the beginning of my diagnosis, I did not feel the need to tell anyone because it wasn’t so serious then. As time went on, I went from a mild case to a very severe case. Still, I felt like I could handle it...

Humor, Humility, and Purpose

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Humor, Humility, and Purpose with Crohn’s Disease In this guest post, our friend Tony talks about how he takes on Crohn’s Disease, why it’s brought a purpose to his life, and why he believes it’s important to share our stories with honesty, humor, and pride. You can follow Tony on his personal blog, HomoCrohn: Thriving as a Gay Male with Crohn’s Disease. I’m in year 12 of having Crohn’s, but after factoring the onset of my symptoms, I would say I have 15-17 years under my belt in navigating life with Crohn’s disease. I want to address why, personally, my Crohn’s disease is a source of great pride and accomplishment. Sure, it’s everything else that comes with inflammatory bowel disease, but I feel blessed to have discovered that Crohn’s can, and has become, so much more to me. To give you a sense of how I live my life vis-à-vis Crohn’s disease, I’m highlighting two of my burgeoning collection of Crohn’s selfies. And, I...

From the Bathroom to Kona

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From the Bathroom to Kona Grant Henry is Kona Inspired We recently caught up to Grant Henry, a colitis patient and Team Challenge alum who is fighting for awareness with his campaign for an entry into the Kona Ironman World Championships, through the Kona Inspired contest. If he wins, he plans to wear IBD apparel, discuss it in the media, and do everything he can to increase awareness of this and Crohn’s Disease. View his entry video and vote here. GBM: Tell us about your disease. What do you have, when were you diagnosed, any medication or surgical details you want to share, and how are you feeling now? Grant: I suffer from ulcerative colitis and was diagnosed in the summer of 2006 after completing my undergrad. I have actually been lucky from a surgical standpoint, but I have been on a variety of medications over the course of the past seven years. Through trial and error, the two medications that have helped me...

Just Keep Talking About It

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This guest post from Greta talks about, well, talking. She talks about her symptoms, her diagnosis, her family, and why she’ll never stop talking about IBD until awareness is strong, information is out there, and a cure is found. Greta is our first guest poster that submitted her story on our website. Share your voice too by submitting your story on our website! I speak openly about having Crohn’s because it affects my life everyday and that, in turn, affects the lives of those around me…my boyfriend’s, my daughters’, my mom’s, my clients’, and my colleagues’. I was diagnosed in 1997 after four years of weight loss, fevers, pain, bloody diarrhea, a nasty e.coli infection, and multiple hospitalizations. Back then, diagnosis usually meant months or years of suffering before someone finally put the pieces of the puzzle together. I started getting sick in 1993 and was undiagnosed through my second pregnancy in 1995. I was accused (by my family, my doctor and my...

Colonoscopy is Not a Dirty Word – Tips for the Prep

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Oh, so you’re getting a colonoscopy? It’s not so bad. Whether it’s your first or your tenth, I think we can all agree that it’s better than uncontrollable bowels and never ending pain. At least you have an excuse to stay near the toilet. Here are some Colonoscopy Prep Tips. Let’s look at the bright side of colonoscopies: 2 days with a valid excuse to do as little as possible. Perfect opportunity to ignore your boss and watch Dawson’s Creek from episode 1, and not feel lame doing a jigsaw puzzle. Cleaning out your system. Even though all preps are hard to get down, and the effects are unpleasant, once you get through, it’s nice to get completely empty and give your bowels a break from their full time job. Post-procedure naps. After it’s all done, you can head home and take pretty much the awesomest, most refreshing nap possible. Your first meal back. Two-Four-Six-Eight, who do we appreciate? Solid food. If...

10 Gift Ideas for Crohn’s and Colitis Patients

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What gifts do you get your friends who have Crohn’s or Colitis? The holidays are coming up, and we’ve got some awesome ideas that will show them how much you love and support them! Here are 10 ideas that will go great with Ask Me shirts. Need more? Here are 12 more inspiring, healing, and funny ideas. 10. Lavender Scented Oil – Lavender triggers natural relaxation, and emu oil is a gentle moisturizer that helps heal scars. Olivu 426 handmakes products with all-natural ingredients, and you can add any scent into any product! Sandalwood is another great scent for relaxation. 9. Designer Pill Box – What lovely lady doesn’t appreciate a high fashion case for storing her meds? These small pill cases that contain 3 small containers for medicine on the go, and can be found at more and more retailers, from stocking stuffer priced Charming Charlie’s, to high end Henri Bendel. 8. IBD Healing Plan Cookbook – This new cookbook offers IBD-specific recipes as well as understanding of how a proper diet can...

What I Want You To Know

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What I Want You To Know about Crohn's and Colitis To all the caregivers, bosses, classmates, and friends. To all the boyfriends and best friends, to the girl that I see at yoga class. I want you to know this: I have IBD. It stands for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. (It does not stand for Irritable Bowel Disorder, or anything else, and it’s not the same as IBS). If you know me, you probably know this. I talk about it frequently. I volunteer for various organizations. I have my elevator speech worked out, and I can rattle off definitions, facts, and statistics in my sleep. But do you know what that means to me, and the other patients who live day in and day out with IBD? Do you know that it’s not just some medical jargon that I apply to my digestive system? It’s so much more than trips to the toilet and chronic fatigue and bi-monthly infusions and doctors’ visits. This is my life. We all know...