Samantha Rynearson's Story

Patient Story

My name is Samantha Rynearson. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in January 2013 after an entire year of tests, labs, scopes, and more. My Crohn's disease was originally classified as mild, and was able to be controlled by pills. My pregnancy with my daughter, Jude, put me into remission for nearly an entire year, which was sweet bliss.

When Jude was nine months old, our family was involved in a pretty bad car accident which took quite the toll on my body and mind - causing endless amounts of stress which triggered my Crohn's. After seeing a new doctor, I was reclassified with moderate Crohn's disease, and was placed on a biologic. An allergic reaction to adalimumab made me make the switch to infliximab, which seemed to be my savior drug.

After seven months on infliximab, I felt better than I had in a long time. However, my scope results showed otherwise. My body wasn't healing although I was feeling well. After an emergency room trip turned into a nine day hospital admission with a small bowel obstruction earlier this year, I have been re-categorized with severe Crohn's disease.

If there's one thing I could tell someone about this disease, it is the unpredictability of it. One day you are feeling completely fine, and the next day you are being admitted to the hospital for an unknown about of time with the possibility of surgery.