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.

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.

Recently, I sent my Grandfather from out of town a surprise package. I took the time to search through all of the wonderful LOOP posts made by PAC members and pulled out all the posts I have written. I compiled them into a word document and attached the pictures as well. I made the font decently big and separated each article to make it easy to read. I printed a copy, wrote my Grandpa a note and sent the package on its way to Pennsylvania.

My name is Benjamin and I am a rising senior in high school. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was 10 and a half. Since then, I have found joy in art, Boy Scouts, numerous sports, and theatre.

I'm Lucy and I'm 19. I just finished my freshman year of college, and I have Crohn's disease. I love dancing, especially tap dance, and I enjoy the outdoors.

We believe in the power of storytelling to connect us, help us all teach and all learn, and to remind us we are not alone. We want to encourage you - whether you have experience with IBD already or are learning about it for the first time - to take a moment and experience life with these chronic illnesses through the stories of five of our community members 💚💙

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.