Crohn's and Colitis Walk

As many of you know, up until last year, I had a condition called Ulcerative Colitis. I was diagnosed in 2006, and tried to control the disease with medicine. Each type of medicine only worked for a few months, at best. Eventually, I got to a point when I had to start having IV treatments for the disease. After a few times, those also stopped working. At that point the only thing left to try was a drug study for medicine that had been approved by the FDA for similar diseases, but not colitis. During this time, I was often too sick to work, and Robert had to be the man and the woman of the house. (At least he can't claim he doesn't know how to do any chores now. :)) After nearly a year's worth of weekly shots, the doctor's determined that nothing was helping and it was time for surgery.

Last March, I had the first of 3 surgeries to remove my colon, and the disease, from my body. This first surgery lasted close to 8 hours. I spent a week in the hospital and 4 weeks at my parents and home to recover. In June, I had the second surgery, which was similar in time and recovery to the first. Finally, in October, I had the last surgery. Thankfully, it was much shorter and easier to recover from than the first ones.

Now, I am doing well and pretty much back to normal. Robert and I went to Zion's last month and we're going to Peru in June. I never would have made either of those trips prior to surgery. I'm so excited to be able to live a normal life again!

Now, I am also walking (because I can now) in the Crohn's and Colitis Walk next month to help raise awareness and money for research on these diseases. I have friends who are still living with Crohn's and I want to help find a way to make their lives better. Without the research on these diseases, I doubt I would have ever had a chance to return to a normal life.

Please help me by donating to my team at www.cctakesteps.org. Just search for my name and pick the one from Utah! You can also find a link on my facebook profile. Thanks for helping me with this!