Posted: 08 Apr 2013 05:52 AM PDT

Hello to all my Crohnies old and new.  I am sat writing this latest blog while slightly spaced out on pain killers, home off work due to my silly tummy and even sillier IBD.

Over the weekend I helped celebrate my wife’s Grandma’s 90th birthday. This celebration included a lot of party food and subsequently led to a rather upset bowel.

Yesterday saw me struggle with diarrhoea which I tried to control with loperamide tablets (Imodium) then during the night I had really bad cramps which meant I didn’t sleep well and had to call in sick to work (I probably overused the loperamide).

As I’ve mentioned before, calling in sick to work is something I try not to do too often but sometimes there is no choice.

This is just a usual weekend for me and my Crohn’s and it isn’t even at its worse. It can be a horrible disease to have to live with. It is incurable. It can be suppressed by medication but not forever. You are always looking over your shoulder; waiting for Mr Crohn’s to return.

Because of this disease and its sister, Colitis, a charity called Crohn’s and Colitis UK was set [...] continue the story

Jordyn is a junior at NYIT University majoring in Art & Computer Graphics. She is a 2007 recipient of the UCB Crohn’s $10,000 scholarship for her academic achievements and perseverance through her disease.

The Foundation for Nutrition and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Children, Inc. (IBD) was formed to raise awareness and foster further research in nutrition and growth factor interventions currently available to patients with IBD.

If you would like further information regarding this research please contact the NIBD.

More NIBD Stories

In the year following my daughter’s diagnosis of Crohns disease also called Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), we had a surprising experience! As a mother of a child with a chronic illness the first thing I did was try to educate myself as much as possible. Twelve years ago, when my child was diagnosed with this debilitating illness, I searched the internet to learn all I could about IBD. The next thing I did was join IBD organizations to learn and show my support to find a cure!

My daughter, Jordyn was 12 years old at the time she was diagnosed. Her symptoms were chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, gas attacks, vomiting, fevers, skin rashes, anemia, joint pain, and indolent sores in her mouth. She had lost 30 pounds in 6 months and had stopped growing resulting in a 2-year growth delay as well as a failure of normal teeth development.

At the beginning of treatment, she was prescribed steroids and chemotherapy medication that she willingly took for one year, despite the fact that she showed no improvement at all. Her condition worsened, and, to make matters worse, her hair began to fall out. She had missed 60 days of school and was [...] continue the story

At the age of 12, Jordyn Shapiro was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Her symptoms were chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, gas attacks, vomiting, fevers, skin rashes, anemia and indolent sores in her mouth. She had lost 30 pounds in 6 months and had stopped growing resulting in a 2-year growth delay as well as a failure of normal teeth development.

At the beginning of treatment, she was prescribed steroids and chemotherapy medication that she willingly took for one year, despite the fact that she showed no improvement at all. Her condition worsened, and, to make matters worse, her hair began to fall out. She had missed 60 days of school and was now becoming reclusive.

Jordyn had been admitted to the hospital several times for dehydration and after her last hospitalization she was recommended to a clinical nutritionist, Dr. Melvyn Grovit. Dr. Grovit was keenly aware of Jordyn’s plight, as he himself had experienced the ravages of Crohn’s disease as a child. Dr. Grovit had developed a nutrition protocol over the past 30 years and introduced it to Jordyn. Dr. Grovit then teamed up with Dr. Alfred Slonim, Jordyn’s endocrinologist, who had also been working with Crohn’s disease patients from a growth [...] continue the story

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:36 AM PST

I don’t know about you but I really don’t like giving up. I have always been stubborn but ever since my Crohn’s diagnosis I think I have become even more stubborn. I think I lie more too, nothing grand just little white lies about how well I am. These lies are not to mislead others; they are aimed at misleading myself.

If I tell myself I am well enough to do something then most of the time I will do it. My stubbornness and self lies get me through most situations. I’m not one for being defeated, so if I have a task to do, I get on with it regardless. This is not always a good way to live. I think I am scared of falling down some kind of slippery slope of laziness, as if my independence is at stake.

If I can’t do one thing due to my illness, will I refuse to do another? Will it trigger a domino effect? As a sufferer of a chronic illness with no chance of a respite I have plenty of valid reasons why I should go easier on myself but I can’t. I will not [...] continue the story