What a Pain in the Butt!
“ As a comedian and a patient, I am in the unique position of being able to take these private moments of digestion-related misery and put them on stage so the audience can have the empathetic release their silence does not provide them."
– Ben Morrison (Comedian and star of “Pain in the Butt”)
What do the following famous people all have in common?
- John F. Kennedy (former President)
- Amy Brenneman ("Judging Amy" TV series)
- Tony Snow (former White House Press Secretary)
- David Garrard (NFL Quarterback)
- Shannen Doherty (90210 TV series)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (former President)
- Kevin Dineen (NHL Right Winger)
- Ben Morrison (Stand-up Comedian)
Give up? The answer is… all of these individuals were diagnosed and suffered with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or IBD. IBD is a seldom talked-about disease that consists of two diagnoses:
- Crohn’s Disease (which more people are familiar with) and
- Ulcerative Colitis (also known as UC)
It is important to know that Crohn’s disease is not the same thing as UC. The symptoms of these two illnesses are quite similar, but the areas affected in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) are different. Crohn’s can affect any area in the digestive tract, while UC is typically confined to the colon. While the exact causes and triggers for this disease are not known, it is known that IBD is not caused by the foods you eat, stress, or any other apparent lifestyle choices. It is thought to be the result of genetics and a faulty immune system that ends up attacking the body it resides in. IBD usually strikes teens or young adults in their 20’s – although there have been diagnoses of IBD in infants all the way to the elderly – and IBD can be a lifelong disease.
You may be asking, “Why in the world would you take your opportunity to write an article for Life @ Sogeti and talk about IBD?” Well, I’m glad you asked. This disease has affected my family not once – but twice, and I am hoping to raise awareness for those who suffer (usually silently) with IBD.
In 2009, my daughter was 6 ½ and began to suffer symptoms that looked like IBD. And sure enough, two weeks after her initial symptoms she was diagnosed with IBD: Ulcerative Colitis. Initial treatment with medications put her UC into remission within four months. However in 2010, a year after her initial diagnosis, she was hospitalized for 12 days due to bleeding, weight-loss, and pain – typical symptoms of IBD. She got better, but never got back to the level of remission she had attained before. Because medications were ineffective and because of serious, ongoing symptoms, in February, 2011 - just before her 8th birthday - Kaitlyn had a surgery in which her colon was removed, an ileal “j-pouch” was created to help take the place of her colon, and a diverting ostomy was created to give things time to heal. Two months later, she was back in the hospital for a second (planned) surgery to reconnect her reconstructed digestive system and get rid of the ostomy. Amazingly, less than a week after her second surgery she was asking me to put her in as goalie on her soccer team (which, of course, I did not do J)! And by a month after her second surgery, you would never have known she had been so sick. Three years later, she is healthy, growing, and strong. Once the shortest girl in her class, she is now one of the tallest.
Actually, in telling you about my daughter, I actually got ahead of myself. You see, when I was 12 years old, I too was diagnosed with UC. However, my disease was not as severe as Kaitlyn’s and I generally got by, having a flare-up every seven years or so. Always easily controlled, you can imagine my surprise when I ended up in the hospital at age 35 because of my UC. Four surgeries (the same ones my daughter had) and about a year later, I finally felt like my old self again and I’m not looking back. Even so, I have to agree with Ben Morrison: IBD is a real pain in the butt!
To learn more about IBD, or to find out how you can help those affected by IBD, please contact the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) at http://www.ccfa.org/ or Team Challenge Crohn’s and Colitis at http://www.ccteamchallenge.org/, or visit their Facebook pages. Thank you!
Steve
