My name is Robbie. I’m 18 and a college student. I was 15 when diagnosed with Crohn's disease; luckily I am in remission now. An interesting fact that people don't know about me is that I captained my school's Trivia team and we went on TV for competitions!

My name is Shira and I'm currently a junior in high school. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in the fall of 2018 but I am being reevaluated for Crohn's disease at the moment. Something interesting about me is that my mom and a few other family members of mine also have IBD!

My name is Seth. I am 17 years old and a rising high school senior.  I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in sixth grade. I had a relatively typical path to my diagnosis. After a few years of worsening symptoms (stomach pain, constipation, and vomiting), I went into the hospital, where I had a gastric emptying scan and upper endoscopy, and then labs, a CT Enterography, and finally a colonoscopy. After a few weeks on Prednisone, I started IV Remicade, which I have been on ever since. Outside of Crohn’s, I play trombone and tennis. I’m also very involved in politics, and I was recently an intern for two congressional candidates in Ohio.

Hi! My name is Mary and I am 19 years old. I am currently in nursing school. I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2018. One interesting thing about me is that I have 3 nephews and a niece!

Hi, I am a 16-year-old high school student diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I am a part of the varsity tennis team, Model UN, French Club, National French Honors Society, and High Pride. The most interesting thing people don't know about me is that I was the champion child of the year for the Children’s Miracle Network at my local hospital.

“Health is not just the absence of disease but a state of overall wellbeing.” - World Health Organization

I started my career in health care nearly 20 years ago as a chiropractor specializing in orthopedic rehabilitation and sports injuries. With a background in physical therapy, I spent about nine years focused on post-acute therapy and rehabilitation. Throughout my career, the view of health as described above by the World Health Organization framed my approach to care.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

I am a graduate of Dow Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan. I was the first in my family to seek medical education, having been inspired by the work of programs like Doctors without Borders. My plan for seeking postgraduate training drastically changed when I applied for and received my immigrant visa in the US lottery and came to the United States to seek residency and post residency training in pediatric gastroenterology.

I have had many blessings and learnings that I have had the good fortune of being exposed to in this great adopted country of mine. This is a very brief story of my journey to become involved with ImproveCareNow, beginning as a practicing pediatric gastroenterologist at a participating children’s hospital and leading to my present role as Clinical Director for ImproveCareNow.  

LOOP is a place for ICN Community members to share their stories – experiences, perspectives, wisdom. Since the blog was created in 2012, hundreds of stories have been shared by patients, parents, clinicians, researchers, collaborators and friends. We've recapped our top five, most read stories from patients about life with Crohn’s disease.

I'm Lexi - a rising high school senior. In December 2019, I was having severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. The doctor at Urgent Care thought my gallbladder was the cause of my pain and suggested I go to the emergency room immediately to have it removed. At the ER, after many tests, they determined it was not my gallbladder but could not figure out the cause of my pain. I was referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist.

My name is Leela, I’m in high school. My diagnosis with ulcerative colitis was a little chaotic. I didn't tell anyone that I was bleeding for about six months, so by the time the issue was brought up, I was severely anemic. I was officially diagnosed with UC the fall of my sophomore year (a little over a year ago). After having no success with medications, I went through surgery for an ostomy April 8, 2019, with the plan of ultimately getting a j-pouch. I lived with an ostomy bag for seven months, and have since undergone two more surgeries, my final one in November 2019, to have my ostomy reversed.