Happy December! It's the unofficial start to the holidays in my house AND the beginning of Crohns and Colitis Awareness Week... so things are feeling incredibly festive! Over the past two years, though, celebrating this week seems to top even the best of holiday preparations and I can't say that I'm too sad about that fact. Awareness weeks has officially turned into its own holiday for me, as I look to acknowledge my past experience with the disease, celebrate the communit

Chronic illness can be tough and lonely. It seems that most people can appreciate that fact and they know what it generally means to be lonely. But “lonely” takes on a new definition that goes deeper and darker with the personalized, persistent, and relentless class of illnesses considered to be chronic, or lifelong. When I was diagnosed, I quickly learned this new definition for lonely. While doctors were considering a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease, and determining a cours

My experience managing chronic illness changed forever when I met my first “chronic-friend.” She was beautiful and confident and looked to be about my age. We connected immediately when our paths crossed at my first job out of college. Within hours of meeting, she pulled out an insulin pump (a device worn by some diabetics to administer their insulin) and I quietly gasped. LOOK! Someone who has medical needs! So what if it’s rude to stare; I was excited. She told me ab