Running for a Cure with Team Challenge

By: Greg Paull

Ulcerative colitis and other bowel issues have affected my family for generations. However, it wasn’t until my daughter Olivia was diagnosed at age five with severe Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease that I decided to take a more active role in the Crohn’s and Colitis community.

In April 2023, Olivia came home from school complaining of a stomach ache. The initial medical assessment was that she had strep throat and needed antibiotics. Unfortunately, as that week dragged on, Olivia felt worse - not better. She began experiencing terrible stomach pain, causing her to urgently rush to the bathroom at all hours screaming in pain. Several emergency room visits later with no answers, Olivia was finally admitted. After ruling out all other possible explanations, she was scheduled for a colonoscopy. No stranger to Inflammatory Bowel Disease, having been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 1997, I, along with my wife, Amber, hoped Olivia would have a mild case – like mine – treatable with oral pills and regular monitoring.

Unfortunately, when Amber and I returned from the lobby, we learned there had been a complication during Olivia’s colonoscopy: her colon had perforated, causing her body to swell with air. In shock and wanting nothing more than to hold our daughter, we were informed that the emergency surgery team was on the way. After an anxiety-ridden wait, we were ushered into the recovery room where Olivia was waking up with her new colostomy. 

Fewer than two weeks later, we were discharged from the hospital. After one long, painful evening at home, we returned the following day. Olivia’s colon was so inflamed from the start that her stoma never had a chance to properly heal. Admitted again, Olivia underwent another surgery the next morning to inactivate her colostomy in favor of a healthier ileostomy. As a result of the chronic inflammation, throughout these multiple surgeries, Olivia had a portion of her ileum and her entire descending colon removed.

With her ostomy in place, a nutrition plan was discussed in collaboration with Olivia’s gastroenterologist, Dr. Joseph Runde at Lurie Children’s Hospital. We decided that Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) therapy was the best route, using a nasogastric (NG) tube to administer all of her nutrients over the next ten weeks. This treatment ensured Olivia received proper nutrition throughout her healing process.

Finally, after spending the entire month of May 2023 in the hospital and with Olivia’s older sister, Emily, rotating between grandparents’ houses and friends’ houses, Amber, Olivia, and I came home.

In September 2023, about a month after Olivia’s sixth birthday, both of her ostomies were successfully reversed. She is now thriving with her monthly medication infusion and healthy eating.

Throughout these hospital stays, I had been preparing to run the 2023 Chicago Marathon as a charity runner with the National MS Society (another organization that is extremely important to me), which would be my fourth full marathon. Like many marathoners do at some point, and often more than once, I had planned this to be my last marathon. This changed with Olivia’s journey. Knowing how much I love my daughter and want her to feel well, and how much I enjoy running (not during it, but when I’m done), I decided once again to take on the long, tiring journey of training for a marathon. This time, of course, I decided to sign up with Team Challenge, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s endurance program. After confirming all of the registration details, I asked Dr. Runde if he would like to run this with me. He’s a gastroenterologist after all, so what could be more fulfilling than not only running a marathon but doing so to raise money for the very ailments he treats? What started out as a half-joke became an annoying persistence, and Dr. Runde finally agreed. I have no doubt that getting me to stop asking was already a win (but you know runners never stop talking about running). So, even though Dr. Runde had only run one full marathon in 2016 (and hated every minute of it), he decided to join my friend, Andrew, and me as we registered for the 2024 Chicago Marathon with Team Challenge.

Eager to get started on fundraising, I began letting my family and friends know that, yet again, I would be requesting their financial support for a great cause. Of course, it was no secret what Olivia and our family had gone through in the previous year, and the support came pouring in much faster than I could have imagined. Even friends of friends and friends of family generously contributed, and between Dr. Runde, Andrew, and me, we raised just shy of $10,000 for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. 

Although the 2024 Chicago Marathon wasn’t my strongest race, it didn’t matter. I was there to support my daughter and all others suffering with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. With perfect weather and wearing my Team Challenge shirt and custom “Run for Olivia” bracelet, I began to run my final (maybe not) full marathon. The crowd support was amazing throughout, but nothing could ever compare to seeing Amber, Emily, and Olivia as I made one of my final turns near the 26-mile mark. Feeling grateful for all the ongoing support my family and I had received since the spring a year earlier, I crossed the finish line, received my medal, and headed to find my family for a big, sweaty, smelly hug!