On June 21, 2020, I will participate in the Des Moines 70.3 Half Ironman, with donations benefiting the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. While this is a big undertaking, your support will not only motivate me to the finish, but will help us get closer to a cure, which truly is the biggest reward.

I have elected to support this foundation because 17 years ago I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. After initially getting it under control and deemed to be in remission, I honestly almost forgot I had it. I was taking maintenance medication daily and had few, manageable flares. In the past 5 years however, as we tried to grow our family, I started to become reminded daily of this auto-immune disease and how it can take over a person’s life. During my pregnancy and through delivery with Alex, I had a bad flare and ended up on a steroid to calm the symptoms. This is likely what led to her intrauterine growth restriction, early birth with low birth weight, and my c-section. Unfortunately, the same thing happened multiple times as we tried for Aidan. While I LOVE being pregnant, my body (the UC specifically) does NOT. Now that I'm done having babies, I'm trying new medications which I will have to be on for the rest of my life as there is no "cure" for this disease. The side effects of these new medications are not great, but they are tolerable if they can get me back into remission.

This is my personal story which I have not shared with many people, as I try to separate myself as much as possible from this disease. But because of the impact it has had on my life for the past few years, I decided it was time for me to share my story and raise awareness. If we can keep others from having to go through what I’ve had to endure, and maybe even find a cure for this chronic disease, I want to be a part of that change.