Beating the Odds with IBD: Terri's Story

Letter from Rick Geswell, CCFA President Rick Geswell, CCFA President This spring we celebrate CCFA's 10th annual IBD Day on the Hill! On May 31st, our dedicated patient advocates will meet with their legislators on Capitol Hill to express the need for continued research funding and to ask them to support our Crohn's and Colitis Caucus. I hope you will join in by encouraging your Congress members to promote IBD awareness. Looking for another way to support people living with IBD? There's still time to join CCFA's Take Steps Be Heard! This weekend, supporters will be walking at 18 sites around the country. Join us and make your voice heard! And one more exciting update: please keep an eye out for our brand new website this summer – we're planning to launch new web features to give you easy access to IBD resources and support. Beating the Odds with IBD: Terri's Story Terri Weidner Terri Weidner's symptoms began in 1971, when she was just 18. Fresh out of high school, her adult life barely begun, she spent the next 10 years "doctor-hopping" while suffering the debilitating effects of her disease. An exploratory surgery finally revealed that Terri had Crohn's disease. Forty years and one extensive intestinal surgery later, Terri has raised three children and works as a full-time registered nurse. "My life is full and satisfying," says Terri. "I don't dwell on what is wrong with me; I look at what is right with me." Read Terri's story in her own words. Read More Travel Tips for Summer Vacations Any successful vacation requires a lot of planning, especially when you're facing health concerns. However, travel is well within the reach of any patient who is already managing Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Whether you're traveling to the beach or abroad, planning ahead will help ensure smoother summer travel. CCFA has compiled helpful information for patients traveling with IBD, including lists of international names for commonly prescribed IBD medications, ideas for meal planning, and tips on finding restrooms on the road. Run with Team Challenge in Nashville! Team Challenge We are very excited to announce that CCFA has added Nashville as a destination for Team Challenge in September! With our first venture into Tennessee, you can now sign up for our endurance training and fundraising program in 26 states! When you run with Team Challenge at The Lady Speed Stick Women's Half Marathon in Nashville, you'll experience Music City at its finest: Country Music Hall of Fame, Music Row, Centennial Park, great Nashville neighborhoods and a street party in Downtown Nashville. The custom finisher's medal, designer goodie bag, cookie cafe and much, much more make this half marathon and 5k a spectacular event! Find a team today! MAY 2012 ISSUE Support Research for Happier Lives We have made astonishing advances in understanding IBD – but there is still work to be done. Your tax-deductible donation helps CCFA fund crucial research to treat and cure IBD. Donate Now Healthy Living Tip doctors HEALTHY LIVING TIP In our Expert Q&A Library you'll find IBD questions submitted by people like you, and answers provided by our panel of IBD experts. Healthy starts here! Read More Inspirato NEW PARTNERSHIP CCFA is excited to announce a partnership with Inspired Giving by Inspirato, a members-only luxury destination club. Find out how you can gain members-only access to Inspirato, while donating to CCFA. Browse Inspired Giving Vacations. Read More Donate Now YouTube Facebook Twitter Forward to a friend Need Help? | Team Challenge | Take Steps | Chapter Events Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America | www.ccfa.org 888.MY.GUT.PAIN (888.694.8872)

April Issue of CCFA

This is from the April Issue of CCFA

Letter from Rick Geswell, CCFA President Rick Geswell, CCFA President Spring has finally arrived! We have many exciting activities and programs taking place that we hope you will participate in. There is still time to sign up for a Take Steps Be Heard walk near you. This program is the lifeblood of CCFA and we hope to get as many feet walking as possible! See below for details on a great Take Steps contest with a chance to meet Nolan Ryan! Register today for a walk in your community. If you prefer running, it's not too late to join our half marathon events in scenic Virginia, California Wine Country, and Hawaii. And what would summer be without Camp Oasis? Both campers and volunteers are invited to sign up for 2012 camps, and have adventures they never imagined. Join us! From patient to doctor: David's story David Griffin Diagnosed with Crohn's disease when he was eight-years-old, David Griffin was in and out of remission growing up. Adolescent years are difficult for any teen – but they were especially trying for David. "The side effects of the treatments can be more psychologically devastating than the illness itself," he recalls. Sometimes, David wouldn't take his medicine for fear of those side effects, putting himself at risk for Crohn's-related complications. Today, David is in medical school. Learning about the human body will prepare him to be a doctor and also help him to be a better patient. Read David's story. Read More CCFA Partners: Building a Platform for Success Our CCFA Partners program is building a legacy of knowledge for a better future! CCFA Partners is an Internet-based cohort study in which we are partnering with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) patients in an online community. Through the web, we are using the program to collect information from IBD patients across the country to learn about the impact of IBD on their health. This opportunity for patients to contribute to advances in their own care has an unprecedented potential to improve the quality of life for patients everywhere. If you haven't done so already, please take the time to participate in this important study. It's an easy way for you to take part in helping us find cures. Learn more about CCFA Partners and help us make a difference. Vote for your favorite! CCFA is launching a monthly giving program for special donors who want to increase their commitment to CCFA's mission, but we still need a name for the program! We've narrowed it down to our top choices: click on your favorite to help us decide! No matter which name is chosen, the support that CCFA receives through monthly giving is truly important. Committed monthly donors ensure that we have a steady stream of income to expand our programs, and fund cutting-edge research that may one day lead to cures for IBD. We look forward to sharing the winner with you soon. Thanks for voting! Giving Circle Research Champions Friends with GUTS CCFA Sustainers APRIL 2012 ISSUE Support Research for Happier Lives As the leader in IBD research, CCFA needs your support to fund cutting-edge research to treat and cure IBD. Your gift can help improve the quality of life of many patients. Donate Now Healthy Living Tip doctors HEALTHY LIVING TIP Talking to your doctor about the possible side effects of any treatment you consider goes a long way towards healthier living – starting here! Read More WALK TO WIN Meet Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and win a trip to the North Texas Gala! Take Steps is running a nationwide fundraising incentive from April 16th - May 1st for two tickets to the gala, two airline tickets, and a two-night hotel stay. For every $100 raised between April 16th - May 1st, you will be entered into a drawing for one chance to win. The more money you raise, the more chances to win! The Gala is Thursday, May 24th at 6:30 pm. Read More Donate Now YouTube Facebook Twitter Forward to a friend Need Help? | Team Challenge | Take Steps | Chapter Events Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America | www.ccfa.org 888.MY.GUT.PAIN (888.694.8872)

Make IBD a thing of the Past

Right now, 1 in 200 Americans suffer with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis – and this year the number of new diagnoses will rise most rapidly among children. All of these patients dream of a future free of these debilitating diseases. That's why I hope I can count on you to make a generous gift to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America today – to help us make their dream a reality. Your support furthers patient support programs and key research programs such as: Genetics Initiative, a collaborative, multi-center and cross-disciplinary project to provide tools that can be used to guide the development of new treatments for IBD, define patient subsets who may respond to specific treatments, and to measure the impact of treatments in patients. Microbiome Initiative, a project investigating the bacterial and viral species, genes and metabolic products in our digestive tracts. The Initiative is developing techniques to analyze large data sets so that all IBD investigators can utilize the results. Ultimately, the Microbiome Initiative hopes to identify bacteria and fungi that are different between IBD patients and non-patients and target them for new therapies. Pediatric Network, which seeks to provide pediatric-specific information through a large-scale multi-center collaborative effort to illustrate how risk factors present in children with IBD influence the natural history of the disease. At CCFA, we invest our dollars wisely, funding only the best IBD research in the world and implementing a peer-review process that ensures that only the most promising grant applications are chosen. But I don’t have to tell you that there’s much more work to be done. Please make your gift to CCFA today. Your generosity will benefit millions of people all over the world by helping us move closer to the day that these diseases are a thing of the past. Thank you for your support, Richard J. Geswell President This year, too many men and women – and even more children – will find out that they have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Help us map out a future free of these diseases. Renew Now Sidebar Photo P.S. Wouldn't it be great if together we could fund even more brilliant scientists in the coming year? By making a gift to CCFA, you will support finding better treatments and a cure. Donate PS Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America | www.ccfa.org 888.MY.GUT.PAIN (888.694.8872)

CCFA March Issue

Letter from Rick Geswell, CCFA President
Rick Geswell, CCFA President


Spring is almost here, and we're excited to bring you new programs to help you with disease management. I hope you'll register for our teleconference tomorrow, Transitions in IBD: Graduating to Young Adult Care. Experts Laurie Fishman, MD, and Maureen Kelly, MS, RN, CPNP will discuss what is needed for a successful changeover and improved quality of life in young adulthood. Nurses will be eligible to receive 1.25 contact hours by participating in this activity. Join us tomorrow, March 15 at 8:00 pm ET!

We’re also rolling out a new local education event this spring, Treatment Approaches in IBD: Options to Consider. At this free presentation, local experts will provide up-to-date information on different treatment strategies in IBD, including medications, surgery, and complementary and alternative approaches. Check our local patient education event page as more dates are added!

Take Steps Honored Hero: Inanna Liaw
Inanna Liaw, Seattle Take Steps' local Honored Hero


Inanna is one seven year old who is not shy about her enthusiasm for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation!

Shortly after her fifth birthday, Inanna was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Last year, she was excited to participate in her first Take Steps walk, supported by more than 30 friends and family members. Inanna is this year's local "honored hero" for the Take Steps event in Western Washington. Despite the ups and downs of living with colitis, Inanna remains full of laughter and hope. She can't wait for Take Steps 2012!

Watch Inanna talk about her experiences with CCFA and Take Steps, and check out other important resources here.

Read More

Answers about Colorectal Cancer and IBD

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Each year in the United States, 147,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed and more than 57,000 people die from the disease – making it the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths.

If you have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, you are at a higher risk for developing colorectal cancer than the general population. We asked CCFA's Chair of Professional Education, Tom Ullman, MD, to address the most frequently asked questions you have about colorectal cancer and IBD. Check out Dr. Ullman's responses here.

Your Generosity at Work: New Research Grants from CCFA
Researcher


You may know that CCFA financially supports the best and brightest scientists in the field of IBD research, but did you know that your generosity also provides assistance to both young investigators and established researchers? These awards provide them with enough funds to generate sufficient preliminary data and eventually become competitive for grants from other sources, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In our search for better treatments and cures, we regularly update our list of funded awards. If you want to see how we put your donations to work, you can check out currently funded grants on our site.

MARCH 2012 ISSUE

Support Research for Happier Lives
As the leader in IBD research, CCFA needs your support to find a cure for IBD. Your gift can help improve the quality of life of many IBD patients.
Donate Now
Healthy Living Tip doctors

HEALTHY LIVING TIP
Getting regular screenings and understanding the signs of colorectal cancer go a long way toward healthier living. Healthy starts here!
Read More
Join Team Challenge 2012

Join Team Challenge 2012 Today!
Challenge yourself and change lives! Through Team Challenge, CCFA's endurance training and fundraising program, you can run or walk 13.1 miles or train for a triathlon or cycling event while helping raise funds for our critical research for the millions of Americans living with IBD. Get ready for the experience of a lifetime. Join Team Challenge today!
Read More
Donate Now YouTube Facebook Twitter Forward to a friend

Need Help? | Team Challenge | Take Steps | Chapter Events

Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America | www.ccfa.org
888.MY.GUT.PAIN (888.694.8872)

February Issue from CCFA

Since we had 29 days in February I would like to share with you information on the February Issue of CCFA.


Letter from Rick Geswell, CCFA President
Rick Geswell, CCFA President


Our biggest events of the year are just around the corner!

We hope you'll join us for our live online Take Steps launch tomorrow (2/15) at 7:00pm Eastern. RSVP to the web conference today – and join our National Scientific Advisory Chair-Elect Dr. Jim Lewis, leaders from the field, and me to learn about the exciting new advances in IBD research, developments in our Take Steps walk campaign, and celebrate some of our successes from the past four years. Register to walk today!

We also welcome new team members for Team Challenge – where you can run or walk 13.1 miles, train for a triathlon, or participate in cycling event while raising vital funds for IBD research and support programs.

Whichever way you participate, I hope you'll join CCFA in celebrating our progress towards better IBD treatments and cures. Let's make our voices heard!

Running For a Cure: Tyler's Story
Tyler triumphantly running Team Challenge half marathon


Just two years after his IBD symptoms left him so incapacitated he was barely able to make it out of bed, Tyler ran his first Team Challenge half marathon – 13.1 miles non-stop in 2 hours. Ever since then, Team Challenge has provided Tyler with an outlet for his frustrations and energy, and a close-knit support group.

"I haven't felt this good since my days on the basketball team in high school," says Tyler. "And none of it would have been possible without CCFA and Team Challenge!" Read Tyler's story in his own words.

Join our New Teleconference on March 15!

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis need lifelong management. A smooth transition between pediatric and adult IBD care is crucial. In our new teleconference, Transitions in IBD: Graduating to Young Adult Care, experts Laurie Fishman, MD, and Maureen Kelly, MS, RN, CPNP will discuss what is needed for a successful changeover and improved quality of life in young adulthood. Young patients and their families will learn steps to take throughout childhood and adolescence to ensure a successful transition. Nurses will also be eligible to receive continuing education credit.

Register today for this teleconference on March 15 at 8:00 pm ET.

CCFA Advocacy Accomplishments in 2011



As we gear up our advocacy and legislative efforts for 2012, we'd like to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in 2011. We are exceptionally proud of successfully restoring $680,000 for the IBD Epidemiology Program at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), yielding invaluable information about the prevalence of IBD in the U.S. We also celebrated the establishment of the Crohn's and Colitis Congressional Caucus, and a unanimously passed Senate resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week. Join our growing advocacy network today and stay updated on future legislative issues!

FEBRUARY 2012 ISSUE

Support Research for Happier Lives
With a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, CCFA ensures your donation funds cutting-edge research to treat and cure IBD. Your gift can help improve the quality of life of many patients.
Donate Now

HEALTHY LIVING TIP
Take charge of your health by attending a local patient education program. Learn more about the role of diet and nutrition in IBD at our free event, Nutrition & IBD: Choices for Adults and Kids. Check our website for details on events in your area this spring .
Take Steps Be Heard for Chrohn's and Colitis

Take Steps And Make a Difference!
CCFA's largest fundraising event, Take Steps, has officially begun! Form a team and recruit family, friends, and coworkers or join an existing team and enhance your Take Steps experience. Join us in our quest to raise $11 million for IBD research and support programs. Register for Take Steps today!
Donate Now YouTube Facebook Twitter Forward to a friend

Need Help? | Team Challenge | Take Steps | Chapter Events

Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America | www.ccfa.org
888.MY.GUT.PAIN (888.694.8872)

Horning Black History Month

As we are coming to a close on the month of February I wanted to honor my culture and my History as many may know February is Black History Month but I feel that Black History Month should not just be celebrated in one month BUT it should be celebrated 365 days a year because we should not FORGET the struggle of our ancestors so I picked a poem by none other than Maya Angelou this poem celebrates ALL of Us it's called Still I Rise.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

NBA-ALL Stars Review

This past weekend in Orlando Florida the Stars were out at 2012 NBA-ALL Star held at The Amway Center it's where NBA meets Celebrities such as Flo-Rida, Diddy, Mary J Blige, Nick Minaj, Chris Brown Spike Lee, Pitbull, and Ne-Yo and countless of others. The Slam-Dunk Contest was held on Saturday Night which was OFF THE CHARTS! and Sunday was the NBA-ALL Star Game which the WEST won beating the East by two points 152-149. The 2012 MVP Trophy went to none other then Kevin Durant which was well deserved he put up 36 points for the West.

Here are some of the performances from the NBA-ALL STAR GAME

Mary J. Blige-Star Spangle Banner



Pitbull, Chris Brown and Ne-Yo-Halftime Show



2012 NBA-All Star Game Full Highlights and Game Recap



YAY! The West WON GO WEST!!