My Heroes

Clinical Trial Story

My first time to ever hear the words “Crohn’s disease” was 19 years ago (2000) when a young woman that I attended church with made a request. Her name is Angela and she was searching for a person who would be available to drive her from Sheridan, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee every eight weeks for a treatment. At the time she was participating in a clinical trial for an arthritis drug, which had shown promise in treating Crohn’s disease patients. I volunteered for the job and over the next year, Angela thoroughly educated me about IBD and informed me that Crohn’s was “just something I live with but doesn’t define who I am.” Our trips to Memphis that year made us forever friends and introduced me to a chronic illness that would one day change my own life as well.

Fast-forward eight years to January 2009 when my husband and I sat in a hospital room at Arkansas Children’s Hospital waiting for an answer. After months of deteriorating health, medical tests, procedures, and a hospitalization, the doctor was finally able to give our teenage son, Alexander, a much-dreaded diagnosis…Crohn’s disease. I immediately knew why God had placed Angela in our lives! My son was prescribed a treatment that was approved and available thanks in part to Angela’s courage and participation in the clinical trial.

Angela and my son Alex are two of the bravest souls I know. They both bravely endure treatments to help them maintain remission. Their courage in battling Crohn’s has never defined them or dampened their spirits. They endure without complaint and inspire all they meet. They dream big, work hard, love deeply, and live life. They are the faces of IBD, and they are my heroes!

Hometown: Arkansas