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Maggie Bridger I was diagnosed my freshman year of college
but I had been having issues for years beforehand. And I just didn't have any answers; I was
confused and I was frustrated and I had no idea what was happening with my body, I felt
like I was completely out of control. And we just didn't connect the dots between the
different things that were happening to signal the onset of the disease, as is often the
case with Crohn's patients.
Kathleen Nichols I was initially rushed to the hospital with
suspected appendicitis, and plans were made straight away to get my appendix ripped out.
After a very good doctor came to see me they established that wasn't the case and it was
suspected Crohn's Disease.
Tim Albert We were all swimming at the pool and it just
hit me. I like to call it "The Dookerage." It just came out. I'll never forget running
out of that pool, holding my butt, and trying to make it to the bathroom. I didn't make
it. I'll never forget the fear and the pain - the pain was unbearable and I was so scared.
Luke Stokes It got to the point where I would throw up
after every single meal and I decided that it was time to go see a doctor again. Fairly
quickly the doctor, my family practitioner said that he believed I had Crohn's Disease.
Karen Langston High School was filled with abdominal pains
and I missed a lot of school due to that. I remember being in the parking lot in the
back of the school just doubled over in pain all of the time. Of course my mom would take
me to the doctors, but the doctors just said it was all in my head. I was finally diagnosed
at the age of eighteen and missed the first month of college.
Kathleen Nichols It took a long time, but getting the initial
diagnosis was such a relief. Just to know what was wrong with me, because it had been
a mystery for so long. So finally finding out was was wrong meant that we could start
fixing it.
Luke Stokes I was somewhat relieved. It's weird, I finally
had a name for this thing that had been plaguing me for five or six years.
Michael A. Weiss When you get diagnosed with Crohn's Disease
get out in front of it. Don't make it a secret, don't give other people the power to say "ooh,
Michael has Crohn's Disease." Own it. It's nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to be
embarrassed of.