Crohn’s Disease

Superman Was There When I Needed Him Most

June 13, 2013 Crohn's Disease

Tonight I’m doing something I never do. I’m going to a midnight movie premier, for Man of Steel. I’m no night owl, so this ought to be an adventure. But Superman has always been important to me. Mood music: It seems ridiculous, having such devotion to a fictional superhero. But to be honest, the Man [...]

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Don’t Mistake Remission for a Cure

March 8, 2013 Crohn's Disease

As someone who suffered badly from Crohn’s Disease as a kid and still deals with the effects today, I find the story of Ari Meisel inspiring. The NYC resident tells Fox News that he found a way to beat the disease, which is considered incurable. Mood music:  Doctor Alibi (Feat. Lemmy Kilmeister)SlashSlash A friend sent me [...]

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My Crohn’s Disease Is Doing Push-Ups

January 31, 2013 Crohn's Disease

Recovering addicts have a saying: “My disease is doing push-ups in the parking lot.” The meaning is that you can be years into sobriety, but you’re never cured. The disease is ready to beat you down as soon as your guard slips. I’ve learned that Crohn’s Disease does the same thing. Mood music:  On FireVan [...]

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A Legal Victory for Crohn’s Sufferers

August 13, 2012 Crohn's Disease

Though Crohn’s Disease has mostly left me alone in my almost-middle age, there’s one thing it still does to me on a regular basis. It strikes me with an out-of-nowhere urge to use the bathroom. It has hit me while driving, while sitting in work meetings and while standing in the supermarket cereal aisle. Mood [...]

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Four Tips for Prepping for a Colonoscopy

June 21, 2012 Crohn's Disease

I wasn’t going to write about going for a colonoscopy. Not because I’m embarrassed or because I’m worried about grossing you out. But because it’s been done so many times by so many other people. What could I possibly add to the discussion? Mood music, in honor of my only nutrient for the next several [...]

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For A Girl Recently Diagnosed With Crohn’s Disease

May 3, 2012 Children's issues

The daughter of close friends just found out she has Crohn’s Disease. She’s suffering a lot right now, and I know exactly what she’s going through. This post is for her. Mood music:  The Way It IsTeslaThe Great Radio Controversy Hello, my young friend. I’m sorry that you’re hurting so much right now. I was [...]

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A Crohn’s Disease Attack, Put To Music

April 24, 2012 Coping tools

During a severe Chrohn’s Disease attack in the mid-1980s — around the time I was discovering Van Halen‘s older albums — I found one song that really personified what I was feeling. It’s the final song on the band’s debut album from 1978, which is also the year I was first attacked by this disease. [...]

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When The Going Gets Tough, I Disconnect

April 17, 2012 Addiction

I’m leaving my weekly therapy sessions with a headache these days, because I’m working through another deeply embedded flaw in my soul. Mood music: It’s not nearly as bad as the therapy I had in 2004-2006, when I had to endlessly churn the sewage of my childhood memories in search of clues on what was [...]

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RIOT Guitarist Dies From Crohn’s Disease

January 26, 2012 Crohn's Disease

I’m sad to report that Mark Reale, founding guitarist of the legendary metal band RIOT, died yesterday from Crohn’s Disease complications. Mood music: Here’s the news from Blabbermouth, a heavy metal news site: Reale died yesterday (Wednesday, January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn’s disease — an ailment he had battled [...]

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Pearl Jam’s Brush With Crohn’s Disease

January 9, 2012 Courage

Watching some of the “Pearl Jam: 20″ documentary, I learned something I didn’t know about lead guitarist Mike McCready: Like me, he has Crohn’s Disease. Mood music: Knowing what the disease does to you when you’re under attack, I’m impressed he’s been able to keep the kind of touring schedule Pearl Jam is known for. [...]

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