Crystal from Chicago is newly diagnosed Ulcerative Colitis and has had it for right at a year now. UC is a cousin to Crohn’s Disease and has a lot of similarities when it comes to symptoms and how it affects our bodies. That is why it will fall under the same umbrella with Crohn’s.

She has been quite fortunate and has been in remission for about 6 months now after being on Sulfasalazine. Some of the daily challenges she faces is fatigue and bloating, but it does come and go.

One of the things that Crystal would like people to know about UC is “if I’m going through a flare, the stomach aches are so painful that I can’t concentrate on anything throughout the day. However, sulfasalazine has been keeping me in remission, so I haven’t had any stomach aches in a few months!” She has missed a few different events due to fatigue, but she is very thankful that her UC is a mild case and hasn’t had any severe complications. 

We all live with fears with our diseases and Crystal’s fear is that her UC may progress to the point where she will need a colectomy. She’s not scared of the procedure itself, but living with an ostomy and taking care of it. Even with that small fear, she has started running and is training for the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon in Savannah, GA with Team Challenge (CCFA). 

It is people like Crystal that I run for.

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.

You can donate here in support the CCFA.