Making hard decisions and advocating for what is best for me is all part of being an IBD patient. Growing up, I was knocked down by this disease countless times and had to advocate for second opinions or treatment plans that would improve my quality of life and help me achieve remission...

Before I was diagnosed with IBD, my life was fueled by a simple reason: I woke up, got on my bicycle, and trained each day to win bike races. I worked hard and made sacrifices to become the best professional athlete I could be. It all seemed straight forward, really. But things suddenly...

It has been 25 years since I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a preteen. My diagnosis inspired me to want to be a pediatric IBD specialist, and now I am proud to say that I am both an IBD provider and an IBD patient. As a pediatric gastroenterologist in Columbus, Ohio, most of the ...

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...