Food became my personal enemy during my freshman year of high school. When a brutal Crohn’s flare hit, I fell into a downward spiral of pain, confusion, and weight loss. My body began to reject all of the foods I once knew and loved, and my diet had whittled down to four foods that I de...

My world was flipped upside down three years ago after I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I didn’t even know these digestive diseases existed before I was quickly thrown into all the changes and challenges that come with having one. I was a new high school graduate eager to start ...

Oh, August. The weather is warm. The big box stores begin their seasonal sales. And college students anxiously anticipate beginning a new year filled with friends, classes, and memories to be made. But for those with IBD, especially during a g...

I have always loved the summer months. I looked forward to summer camp, sitting by my pool, eating watermelon in the sunshine, and walking along the beach on Long Beach Island. But my Crohn’s disease forced me into a love-hate relationship with the summer. The sun makes me tired and out...

Although post-traumatic stress is a harsh reality thousands of people live with, I always thought of it as something that people experienced after facing a severe event. Little did I know how deeply it could impact people living their ordinary lives, just like myself.  ...

When I was 15 years old, I was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis. Twelve days later, I underwent surgery to remove most of my large intestine. I woke up from surgery having lost most of my colon (and gained an ileostomy), a month of my sophomore year, and a lot of self-confidence...

Thinking back to my childhood, the one thing that always brought me joy were animals. My parents allowed my siblings and I to have pets, and we treated them like real members of our family. When I first got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I remember feeling very overwhelmed. It alway...

Someone once told me that nurses are the life force that make a hospital thrive, and function, on a daily basis. There is no truer statement.  My IBD journey started when I was 15. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and spent a month in the hospital trying to recover enough to fun...

IBD can affect anyone, regardless of their gender identity, age, or racial/ethnic background. And yet, when I was growing up, I didn’t feel as though that was true. In fact, in my experience, the people in the IBD community around me hardly ever looked like me. I remember meeting anothe...

Written by Kacy Holloway, National Council of College Leaders member Traveling has always been something I’ve loved doing, and there is so much of the world that I still want to see. Traveling can take anyone out of their comfort zone – a new location with unfamiliar foods and places, m...