Hug a Crohnie Today!

This week is Crohn's and Colitis awareness week. Last week I got an email from my buddy Adam over at ihaveuc.com letting me know that he had nominated me for a Liebster Award. How awesome! I thought this week would be a great time to showcase some Crohn's/Colitis people here since this blog is typically focused on Celiac as it's specific to the GF diet. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in May of 2008 and am lucky to have it under control and have been med free for two years. I credit the GF/DF diet first and foremost for my success. There are many people out there struggling with these diseases and the same treatment that works for some definitely doesn't work for others. The following quote was floating around Facebook a while ago and it really hit home. Crohn's and Colitis are not the kinds of disease that you can easily see. People that appear otherwise quite healthy may actually be struggling with these issues every day. It's a difficult, everyday, lifelong battle that we fight and a little compassion goes a long way.

It's hard to explain to someone who has no clue. It's a daily struggle being in pain or feeling sick on the inside while you look fine on the outside! Please put this as your status for at least 1 hour if you or someone you know has an invisible illness (PTSD, Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, Diabetes, LUPUS, UC, Fibromyalgia, MS, ME, Arthritis, Asthma, Cancer, Heart Disease, Epilepsy, Autism, M.D.,injury... etc.). "Never judge what you don't understand."

I can't even begin to express my gratitude for all of the people in my life that have supported me throughout this journey. I never would've made it this far without my family and friends.  As far as passing on the Leibster, I realize that some of these people may have already received this award, and I'm not passing this on as an obligation to them to then pass it along to others. I just wanted to recognize a few people that I've connected with through this journey and would like to give a shout out to say THANKS for supporting me and for working hard to support others fighting this battle. So, without further ado...


First I have to send this right back to Adam, the founder of ihaveuc.com which is an awesome site where people from all over the world share their stories and support each other in the fight against ulcerative colitis (and other IBDs). Adam is always there commenting on peoples' posts, sharing them to other UCers, posting awesome videos all the time, and always being totally open about his own journey. He's also a follower of the SCD diet which I do believe is a great tool in helping to heal Crohn's/Colitis. He's also just an awesome guy!

Of course I have to send this next one out to my friend Jason Leitman, the founder/creator of the website Crohn's Disease Support Network. I joined the CDSN in it's infancy and got to know and become friends with Jason. He's such an awesome guy and has built a really great support network for Crohn's sufferers. Today the site has grown to over 1400 members! Jason has had a long and difficult battle with Crohn's and other related health problems but continues to be larger than life in his efforts to help those that are struggling. I have a ton of respect for him and am praying that he gets back to the healthy life that he deserves.

And last but certainly not least is Kat of scdkat.com. She is also an SCDer and is one of the first SCD bloggers I found after the Crohn's diagnosis. Kat has a story similar to mine, a long life of digestive issues followed by many doctors visits and few answers. Through her own research and with the help of a naturopath, she found the SCD and has never looked back. I always find her blog interesting and inspiring.