For years, I didn’t think I’d ever tell my kids that their mom has Crohn’s disease. I had worked so hard for so long to achieve remission... so I was tired of dealing with Crohn's when my first was born. As a result, I never shared what was going on and often focused on how much I wanted to be a "normal" mom. But over the past year, my 5-year-old started to notice that there are some things about me that are different -- I’ve missed out on some family activities, sometimes

A few months ago, I received a call that would stop me in my tracks: would I like to share my thoughts on what defines a quality gastroenterologist at this year's Digestive Diseases Week (#DDW2018)? I think that I said "YES!" before the question was even finished. I was so excited that I got right to work. In some ways, I knew exactly what I'd want to say, but in a lot of other ways, I struggled to find just the right words. From a patient's perspective - or at least THIS

Visit The Mighty to view a version of this article. It was a beautiful, hazy day in August when I was formally diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. From over the phone, the doctor’s words seemed in such stark contrast to my surroundings that I had trouble digesting them. It was warm, and I was exhausted; all I could mutter was, “OK.” Appreciating the reality of being diagnosed with a lifelong, incurable chronic illness wasn’t on my mind. Instead, assigning a name to the beast taki