uc – The Great Bowel Movement

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...

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...

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...