| I will be running in the NYC Marathon on November 2nd, 2008 in support of Team IBD Kids. This next marathon event is a “must do” for most marathoners. I will be training for this marathon and completing this event while raising funds for Team IBD Kids. My lifelong friend, Lori Sperber, will be running the marathon with me and helping me with this fundraising effort. Lori's daughter, Melissa, was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at the young age of 10 and battled for years against this illness. To read her family's personal story with IBD please visit www.runningonlove.org/IBD.htm.
To support Team IBD Kids and my fundraising effort please make a donation using the "Make a Contibution" link on the bottom of this web page.
What is IBD?
Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, known as IBD, are the most common chronic and serious gastrointestinal disorders affecting children. Both Crohn’s and Colitis tend to strike during childhood at an average age of 12 years old. The cause of these conditions is still unknown. UC can be cured by surgery to remove the entire large intestine. CD can not be cured by surgery. Both are treated with a variety of medications and other therapies.
Imagine what it is like to be a kid with IBD:
• Eating becomes a struggle and not a source of enjoyment like it is for everyone else
• You are not like all the other healthy kids who eat anything they want, you are different
• Frequent trips to doctors and hospitalizations
• Needles and IVs become commonplace in your life
• During the hospital stays you are surrounded by sadness and other seriously ill children
• Having a lowered immunity you are prone to catch other illnesses more easily than other children
• You often become labeled as “the sick kid”
• It is not uncommon for normal growth and the ability to mature to be stunted because of your illness, the results of which many children carry into their adult life
• Missing a lot of school causing added stress and pressure to try to catch up
• Needing special permission from the school to use the lavatory when needed because of the frequency
• Swallowing dozens of pills trying to hopefully find a combination that works
• Receiving intravenous medications that are administered in the hospital
• Living with the threat of major surgery
• Living with the permanent scar, both physically and mentally, after surgery
Having a child with IBD is a life changing experience, bringing a great deal of anxiety and stress to the families who have been touched by this. Please help support families who are suffering the way my friend Lori's family did. Please make a generous donation to Team IBD Kids and help this fine cause. Thank you for your support!! |
