I am raising money for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation as I train for the City of Oaks Half Marathon. Crohn's disease is close to home for myself, my family, and also friends. I believe the condition is overlooked by the general population as it can cause pain for an individual without others knowing. I am fortunate to be healthy enough to run this half marathon and am motivated to raise money for research and treatments to assist those who do not have the liberty to avoid the pain that Crohn's and Colitis can bring.
I will be donating $5 for every mile I run in my training and race in hope of finding more treatments and hopefully a cure one day!
See my detailed story below with my experience being diagnosed with Crohns.
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Throughout high school, I struggled with maintaining body weight and muscle. After a while, I started to notice that my digestive system was not operating as it should. I originally assumed that it was related to a food allergy or my diet. However, during my freshman year of college, I realized the issue was much larger based on the symptoms I was experiencing at Penn State.
I was recommended to a Gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy, and the results came back with serve inflammation at my Terminal Ileum and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.
Fortunately, I was recommended to a Monoclonal Antibody that was a miracle drug and resolved all my symptoms within weeks. I was on the medicine for about 4 years where I experienced no pain or symptoms at all. However, my bloodwork eventually returned results that I developed antibodies against the medication, and my GI recommended a change in therapy to ensure my inflammation would not return.
I was resistant to the therapy change at first as I felt I was in remission due to the lack of symptomatic response, but eventually, I trusted in the specialist's recommendation and switched treatments. Days after my first treatment on the new medication, I experienced pain for the first time in my abdomen before and prevented me from following my daily routine. I reported the pain to my GI, and I was told "it was coincidence and should be thankful for the change in treatment." I personally disagreed as my education taught me to identify the variables in an experiment, and I felt the pain was initiated by the change in therapy.
So, I went to a new GI to receive a second opinion as my symptoms and pain became worse and worse. He heard my side of the story and informed me that he wanted to perform his own medical diagnosis before making any changes. Eventually, after a 1.5 years of MREs, Colonoscopy, and 2 new medications, I have returned to my original medication that fixed me the first time. I am now pain-free after a whirlwind experience to find the right treatment plan. I learned that treatments for this condition is very patient-specific, and everyone responds different to the monoclonal antibodies.
During my 4 years of being a symptom-free Crohn's patient, I did not take my condition seriously; however, I instantly learned that this disease can prevent you from living the life you want to live. Now that I am healthy I am motivated to give back to those who are struggling and have not found their treatment to reduce their pain.
Please consider donating if you are in a position to do so :)
Drew
