Our Stories

My journey with IBD began in 2008 when I was 20 years old and hospitalized with ulcerative colitis. It was a moment in time that put my life and career on hold. In a blink of an eye, I went from fighting to win bike races to fighting for my health.

I have a lot to be thankful for, despite the impact IBD has had on my family.

I was 12 when I found out I had Crohn's disease.

Susan Thomsen is both the mother of an IBD patient and a patient herself, but that hasn’t stopped her from completing more than 10 Team Challenge events.

I was diagnosed with mild ulcerative colitis in early 2010. Though I took the prescribed medications the UC was continuous and worsened over the next three years until I had exhausted all approved treatments to no avail. A specialist at UCI recommended I consider a clinical trial medication as a potential treatment. I was screened and accepted for the clinical trial. My UC was then moderate and affecting my daily work and activities, so I was hopeful.

My son Christopher is 11-years-old and has Crohn’s disease.  He was recently diagnosed this past January of 2018 at age 10.  Up to this point in time he always had a few issues when it came to his digestive system. Ever since he was born he’s suffered from constipation. Sometimes mild and sometimes more severe, we tried over the years to treat this, but nothing ever worked. He’s never had a good appetite and much of the time exhibited difficult behavior which I attributed not only to his strong will, but also to him not ‘feeling well’.

From a young age, I knew that I wanted to be a mother. But, when I began experiencing symptoms of Crohn’s disease at age 21, I became worried about how my future may look. Knowing instinctively that I wanted to be well to have a child, I set out on a mission to heal the angry disease that was taking over my intestines.

When I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis as a twenty-year old, I never thought I would go so far as enrolling in a clinical trial to manage my disease. I was actually very resistant to most medications in the beginning. It’s hard to come to terms with being dependent on medication for the rest of your life when you are supposed to be in your prime. I felt like my body was betraying me.

I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 1993 at the age of 13. A common steroid let me carry on and go to school but every time I tried to switch to a new medication, the results were less promising. I spent three years yo-yoing up and down on this steroid. We lived in the mountains of Colorado and had to travel about 4 hours to the nearest gastroenterologist. This made each medication change a huge ordeal for me and for my family.

If you want to get healthy, you must believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dark, cold, and damp that tunnel gets. I am uncertain if my disease will ever resurface; however, if it does…I AM READY!

While many patients enroll in clinical trials as a last resort, my clinical trial participation began early on in my journey with Crohn’s.  After several visits to the emergency room for abdominal pain and various tests with no definitive answers, I finally received my Crohn’s diagnosis in the fall of 2017. It came as a result of a capsule endoscopy used to record pictures of my digestive tract. 

Kelly Crabb lives with multiple autoimmune diseases, including Crohn’s disease. Diagnosed when she was 15, Kelly copes daily with what it means to have an invisible illness – the countless pills taken daily, potential side effects, doctors appointments, surgeries, financial burden, and more. Above all, Kelly lives with the crippling pain caused by her invisible illnesses – both in and out of the gut.