Marissa is a traveler from Australia has been dealing with Crohn’s for a little over a year now. She has been fortunate and has stayed away from the operating room.
One thing that has always concerned me personally over the years is the harshness of a lot of drugs that Crohn’s patients are put on. Marissa is on a few drugs that I have never heard of, Mezzavant and Mercaptopurine. I did some searches on these drugs and they are more of a chemotherapy type drug. I have been on Chemo type drugs before, but I have not been on these. There are a lot of possible side effects to drugs like these which can open up a whole can of worms to other cancers, or diseases.
Over the 35 years that I have had Crohn’s and the 1 year that Marissa has had it, people have to realize that diet isn’t the answer to curing Crohn’s. It doesn’t work that way and this is a disease that we have to live with for the rest of our lives until there is a cure found.
Some of the daily challenges that Marissa faces is being sure to give herself enough time in the restroom in the morning. I know that sounds simple, but people with Crohn’s, it truly can be a challenge. The other thing that she has a daily challenge is remembering to pack all of her medications. I know personally, there have been times where you have to take it multiple times a day and you just have to remember.
Marissa won’t let Crohn’s hold her back from her doing things that she loves to do like traveling and gardening. Traveling can be a challenge when you do have Crohn’s. I know that I get nervous at times when I travel. If you aren’t ‘feeling well,’ it can make for a long flight, but she won’t let it keep her from traveling. She just returned from a vacation to Hawaii and her Crohn’s was well behaved.
Marissa is one of the reasons I run.
Want to help find a cure? Please help me get to my new goal of $3000 and support me and my ‘crohnnies’ help find a cure and run this marathon together.
Running and Chasing Medals with Crohn's Disease 