Guest Posts – Page 2 – The Great Bowel Movement

To Talk, or Not To Talk?

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To talk, or not to talk? That is the question. Okay, so if Shakespeare were here and had Inflammatory Bowel Disease he would totally be asking you that exact question right? I COMPLETELY understand that talking openly and honestly about Inflammatory Bowel Disease, whether you have Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis has probably sent many of you to run and hide behind the back of the sofa. Come out…please come out? I get it, I’ve been there myself… It can be embarrassing, hard to talk about and some of you may prefer to keep it all to yourselves. Keep your ‘secret’ hidden away because that’s what makes you feel most comfortable. Not having to talk about your illness whether it be due to feeling ashamed, frightened or a burden on other people, these are all natural when someone brings up the topic of ‘discussing’ IBD in a very public way. We have all felt annoyed or angry when someone says a really mean comment....

I’m Sick-Sick

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So now that the holiday season has come and gone, the New Year is usually a time when we all reflect on the previous year and think about how we want to change going forward. I took this time, however, to think about how I spent my holiday season – sick. And no, I wasn’t having a flare and out of control Crohn’s symptoms, which is what the holidays (mostly over-eating) usually bring for me. I had the flu. Type A and B. Let me tell you: when I was in that doctor’s office and I was told that the flu test came back positive for both Type A and B, I was floored. A flu diagnosis is usually maddening for a typically healthy person, but for someone with a chronic disease and a suppressed immune system, it’s terrifying. What could usually last a week could possibly last 3 weeks or more with an immune system so compromised like mine is. I...

Along the Journey of Crohn’s

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I don’t know where to begin. It has been suggested to me many times that I write down the story of my journey through college, getting a grown up job, getting married, having a baby and oh, yeah having Crohn’s disease. I am not truly sure where to begin with this story, so I will begin at the beginning and go to the end, though I know it will not be straight through, as no good story goes straight from beginning to end. 2009 College can be a trying time for anyone. Moving away from home, dining hall food, partying, and stress from an insane course load is enough to cause anyone a little digestive distress; especially someone who has food allergies, such as me. I spent four years trying to figure out where the “hidden” bathrooms were in each of my academic and resident buildings to ensure no one knew it was me getting “sick” and stinking up everything. Luckily for me, I...

Let Me Tell You About My Crohn’s

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This special IBD Awareness Week guest post comes from Alyssa, a brave and wise Crohn’s patient, but let’s let her introduce herself. I am Alyssa. I am 23. As of this past July, I have Crohn’s disease. I have a whole diagnosis story, but I’ll spare you the gross details. I spent the first month after my diagnosis trying to get my body on track and relieved that I had a name for my combination of crazy symptoms. I was afraid. I woke up almost every night thinking that this would be the night that I would need to go to the hospital. The pain scared me. My whole life seemed to all of the sudden revolve around Crohn’s. Maybe it would go away. I mean, how could it not, with the 10+ pills that I was taking each day? I told a few close friends that I was sick, but I belittled my disease. I was so afraid that they...

Running to the Bathroom

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It’s race day. The air is cool, the sun is low, adrenaline is high. The crowds are gathering near the start and off to the side, there is a very, very long line for the portapotty. EVERYONE is obsessing over having to go. Waiting in that line, a line that I hope is moving quickly, I wonder how many other people are having the same anxieties as me because I’m not just obsessing, I really need to go. I’m not just hoping that I can empty my bladder and bowel before the race, but I can feel an urgency that very rapidly will become an immediate need. We all know what this is like. The “oh no, I need a bathroom and I need it now!” revelation is never fun, particularly when it’s accompanied by a bout of abdominal pain. So last May, as I congregated with 20,000 friends in Brooklyn, ready to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon, I found myself...

Relationships, Marriage, and IBD

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Just like we did with our Parenting Perspective, we sat down to chat with two IBD activists about how their marriages work in the face of IBD. This special conversational post compares two perspectives – one spouse who has Crohn’s, with that of a spouse who is a caregiver. You may know Ryan Stevens of The Crohn’s Disease Survival Guide. Ryan is a long time patient of Crohn’s, and is working on his second attempt to swim across Lake Erie for funding and awareness. On the other hand, we have Rebecca Kaplan, blogger at Caring for Crohn’s, who is not a patient, but has seen and cared for IBD first hand. GBM: Tell us about yourself and your spouse. How does IBD affect your family? Were you together when the diagnosis happened, or were you/your partner already diagnosed when you started dating? Rebecca: My husband Dan has Crohn’s Disease. We began dating two months before he was diagnosed in 2007 and have been married...

What Would You Do With A Second Chance?

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In this guest post, we get the story of two guys that used a second chance at health and life to make a difference in the battle for IBD awareness, and prove that anyone has the ability to make a difference. Cousins Jack and Nick start following one of their dreams, and after a Crohn’s diagnosis, it leads them to pursue another. Follow their journey on CowboysVsCrohns.com. My cousin Nick and I have always had big dreams—playing football for Notre Dame, going on safari in the Australian outback, becoming world-class fishermen, becoming cowboys (John Wayne was our childhood idol), herding cattle from Texas to Montana (we watched Lonesome Dove a lot), and the list goes on. Some of these have come true (at least partially) while others have not. The summer after we graduated from high school, our dream of becoming cowboys came true as we began our work for Warren Johnson at Hells Aroarin’ Outfitters. We would wake up early, catch,...

Spreading Awareness is Liberating

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In this guest post, Noah discusses his struggle with sharing the details of his disease, and the surprising reactions he received. From consulting Dr. Google to feeling embarrassed, his story is something we can all relate to - and a lesson we can all learn from. I woke in a frenzy, hurriedly flinging off my sheets and tugging down my panties as I ran out of my room and around the corner, and promptly threw my naked butt down on the toilet seat. As quickly as I had moved, I still managed to dribble crap from my bed to the bathroom. I was home alone, but humiliated and confused with myself. My family doctor told me I was vitamin D deficient and probably had hemorrhoids, but every time I tried to Google my symptoms, I only pulled up colon cancer. I spent the next hour scrubbing the strangely maroon-colored soil out of the carpet, wiping the blood spatters from the toilet seat, and being extremely...

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...